#I did see a snake this weekend so maybe it came out when it was warm and didn’t

[seabeck]

It’s at freezing today and I found a native lizard out. It was barely moving and I honestly thought it was dead or dying but after putting it in my bra (nice and warm and safe) it’s wiggling around. I think it’s really dehydrated and hungry. No goddamn clue what it was doing out in this weather, it should be brumating right now!

[freshxsturniolo]

i want you there - chris sturniolo x fem!reader

REQUEST : Hey! Could you maybe do something about y!n and Chris going on vacation in like a lodge or something in the woods or mountains and just having the best time ever! (Also with nick, matt and Nate)

i hope this is okay!!! i had so many requests for more chris fluff too so i made this sweet and mushy 🥹

when chris had asked you to come on his boys trip, you had thought he was joking. you were flattered and happy enough to have been ask to go to boston with him in the fall, now becoming a loved member of his family due to being his girlfriend, but you were more than aware how important his trips away with his brothers and best friend, nate, truly was.

"you're joking" you said as you sat on the couch the night before, glass of wine in hand. he shrugged.

"no. why would i be joking?" he asked, his hand on your knee as you sat with your feet up, blanket over your knees as you were reading your book whilst he packed his bag for the following few days.

you sit your book down on the ledge of the couch at the same time mary-lou walks in, and she gives you a smile as she sees you both, which you return before looking back at chris.

"because your boys trips are like, your favourite weekends ever, are they not?" you say again, and chris gives you another shrug.

"okay?" he says, genuine confusion to his face at your question.

"well, i don't exactly want to intrude. have you spoke to the boys about it?" you ask now, and chris rolls his eyes.

"you're literally nicks favourite person, i wouldn't even need to ask. but yes, i did. and they're all okay with it. i want you there."

it was the 'i want you there' that had done it. you were planning to just spend a few days in boston by yourself, grab coffee in a morning and read your book in the park, come home and help mary-lou around the house. you genuinely had not considered going with them for their weekend away. but the look on chris' face made you want to melt, and so you smiled deeply and agreed.

so now you let out a deep sigh, stretching out your back as you place your bag down on the floor of the shared bedroom of yours and chris' for the next few days in the log cabin they had booked. it smelled like wood and pumpkins and it was absolutely perfect. four poster bed, bedside lamps illuminating a soft glow around the room. you could hear chris and the rest of the boys laughing away in the background before the door swung open, and chris' beautiful smiling face met yours. he shut the door, flung his bag down on the floor, and before you knew it he was running over to you, picking you up by the waist and spinning you in a circle.

"chris!" you half screamed, half laughed, before he eventually dropped you back down, his hands snaking to your hips as he pulled you into him, pressing a deep kiss to your lips.

"hi baby" he smiles. and you chuckle as you wrap your arms around his neck.

"hi" you smile.

it had been a long car journey and with only one stop, you were aching from head to toe. you were dying to get out in the late autumn afternoon sunset that was setting outside the windows and stretch your legs. you weren't sure if thats something the boys would want to do, but you were happy to go alone.

"i missed you" he whined, and you laughed.

"we just had a 4 hour car journey side by side." you said, and he leant forward and nuzzled his nose with yours.

"its not the same as being alone with you." he whined again, and you let out a chuckle as your hands came up to the back of his hair.

"you bought me on a boys trip, baby. what did you expect?"

he chuckles now, giving you another kiss before breaking contact, your hands sliding down his shoulders before dropping down to your sides.

"what you wanna do? we usually grab pizza and watch a movie on the first night."

you smile as you make your way to the bathroom, flicking on the light and looking over yourself in the mirror.

"that sounds good. i might go for a walk, stretch my leg. if thats okay?" you say as chris follows you in, wrapping his arms around your waist and looking at you through the reflection in the mirror.

"of course. let me tell the boys and we'll all go."

"i can go alone, it's okay!"

he spins you around now, pressing you against the sink.

"alone? when its almost dark? in a place you've never been. not a fucking chance, babe. let me tell the boys."

he doesn't let you say another word before he's gone, his voice echoing through the log cabin as you hear him call out the his brothers and nate. you don’t hear much else as you let out a soft chuckle, before slowing following him out the room.

your eyes meet nicks immediately.

“i was just coming to get you!” he says.

“you good?” you ask. nick smiles.

“yes. do you wanna go for a walk now?”

you sigh. “you boys really don’t have to come, i just feel stiff.”

nick rolls his eyes, walking behind you and grabbing your shoulders, pushing you forward slightly until you enter the kitchen, eyes meeting with nate and matt who give you a smile.

“we can scout out the lake, ready for fishing tomorrow” nate says to everyone in the group, and nick claps his hands on your shoulder.

“and me and you can sit far away in peace” nick says, and you turn to give him a laugh. that small peace of anxiety leaving you at their words. you hated to feel like you were intruding but it was so clear these boys appreciated and loved you as much as you did them.

an hour later, the sun is setting in the most beautiful space you’d ever seen. the lake was beautiful and the sun bounced off the water, all whilst you stood back and watched as the 4 boys in front of you laughed and joked away. you’d walked with them all equally on the way here, but standing back now you couldn’t help but smile at the sight of them all. when nate and matt picked up rocks to skip across the water, you knew you’d be staying her for a while, so you found a piece of grass to perch yourself down on, pulling your phone out to take a photo of the scene in front of you. the soft orange glow, the water, the 4 best friends. it was so peaceful. but after a minute or so chris turned around, and the minute his eyes lay on yours he walked straight over.

“you okay, baby?” he asked, reaching you and holding out his hand. you took it, allowing him to help you stand up before he pulled you into his side. you smiled, wrapping your arm around his back and your other arm around his waist.

“i’m good. so good. this is beautiful.” you say, looking out at the sky once again.

chris doesn’t say anything, and you appreciate the comfortable silence between you both before matt turns around, ushering you over.

“come on, y/n.” he says, moving his hand in motion to get you to join him. you look up at chris, and he gives you a smile before pushing you forward slightly to go join his brother.

you spend the next half an hour skipping rocks, all four boys making light joke with you about being rubbish whilst also helping you out, before you take the walk back. you find yourself sandwich between nate and matt, as chris and nick walk behind, and by the time you reach your cabin, your cheeks hurt from laughing.

later that evening, after takeout pizza, you find yourself falling asleep in chris arms in the small armchair designed only for one. you’re squished in by his side, his arms around you as you lay your head on his shoulder. tiredness over comes you like a soft blanket, and before the 4 boys have even decided on a movie, you’re asleep.

you just catch the moment chris brings his lips to your ear though, and whispers a soft i love you.

[lyricwritesprose]

Me versus a fanfic idea, trying to cohere

Having been watching some of "My Adventures With Superman" lately, and I have become kind of obsessed with a crack idea that came to me last night at fuck o'clock in the morning, that being: what if (in the MAWS continuity or any one in which the Kents are both alive) Jonathan and Martha got roped into briefly housing or fostering a teen after Clark was out on his own?

I mean. Like. Imagine you're this kid. You are staying with the most tragically uncool individuals on this planet, but they're honestly nice, they aren't bothered by all the stuff that got you labeled A Troubled Youth or the gender stuff you may have going on or any of that, they just seem fundamentally Able To Roll With It, and, okay, this is going to be fine. It's temporary anyway. Just keep out of trouble.

And they have an adult son who comes around sometimes? He's kind of nice too. Maybe twenty-one, twenty-two, he's built like a moose and you'd think he'd be imposing but he's kind of shy and awkward and somehow just fundamentally Not Like the people who beat you up before, so you're pretty chill with him. He knows all the good places on the farm to sit and think, or sit and draw. One time when he comes around he shows you the creek and you learn all about the frogs and the crawdads and the snakes. Tells you about the corn snake he rescued once. Stuff like that.

Only some things really don't add up.

Like, there's never a car in the driveway when he shows up. And it's not on weekends or anything like that, it's weird times.

And there's a note on the fridge that says, "If you drink all the milk please replace it THIS MEANS YOU," and before long you figure out it's gotta be meant for him, because he will take a gallon and finish it a glass at a time and who can even do that without throwing up? Wasn't there some kind of ghastly TikTok challenge about that?

And when you joked to his Dad and Mom that he seems to have a real superpower for figuring out whether there is going to be pie, you got such weird, almost nervous looks that you quickly dropped the subject.

And one time you swear he appeared out of absolutely nowhere to walk you back to the house because Mr. Peterson's bull broke the fence and is wandering this way. (He was the first one to realize this. How did he realize this? He's sort of guiltily evasive on the subject.)

And he reassures you one time that you don't actually need to fear the Kansas Mothman because he accidentally started that legend. How? He really doesn't want to talk about it.

What with one thing and another, you start wondering…

Maybe he's a ghost.

Maybe something awful happened and he can't move on. You don't want to suspect the Kents, they are honestly pretty top-notch for parental types (especially after some of the ones you've known) but other people in the town? You know personally how ghastly a small town can be to That Weird Kid. Maybe something really bad happened.

(Maybe it could happen to you too.)

So you've got to figure out what's going on so you can get justice for your friend. You start to investigate. Smallville does have rather more than its fair share of Weird Shit—like possibly a lot more—but you're not really getting anywhere. And it occurs to you that you don't really have the wherewithal to go and try to find—well, let's not put too fine a point on it, to find an unmarked grave—that could be anywhere.

Meanwhile the world has at this point in time started to see some Seriously Weird Shit, although at this point it's largely In Other Places because that's where everything in the world happens, there is absolutely Nothing Significant In Kansas and probably never will be, but it gives you an idea. Slightly insane and scary idea, but you've hit so many dead ends that it might be worth it.

You're going to try to contact Superman and see if he can use his rumored X-ray vision to figure out what happened to Clark.

…

Just to be clear, I have no idea what the ultimate punchline is for this piece of ridiculous meandering is, and it's the sort of thing that does require a pretty good punchline. So I don't know if it's ever actually going to get written. On the other hand, it is one of my favorite dishes, which is Canon Characters Helping Queer Kid, with a heavy helping of Following Logic-like Structures To Wrong Conclusions sauce.

So I thought I might post the idea, because I have this lovely optimistic belief that sometimes, I am in fact extremely funny, and tumblr is a place that often eggs me on.

[twstgarden]

❃ ❝ 𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 ❞

━ diasomnia and gn! reader ━ as a regular visitor of diasomnia, it wasn't odd for you to pay them a visit and sleep over frequently. deciding to visit them again after class, you find yourself greeted by nothing but an empty and dark dormitory. (f/n stands for first name)

do not steal or translate without my permission.

ko-fi here if you want to support me, commissions are open, requests are open

it wasn’t unusual for you to visit diasomnia frequently. in fact, you had been unofficially crowned a diasomnia resident with the amount of times you’re seen lounging around the said dormitory. not to mention, malleus and lilia had arranged for you to sleep in the guest room during the nights you wish to stay over.

that said, diasomnia felt like home. it was a dormitory like no other, and the residents are far from just your friends. they were special. they were important, especially to you.

it was another weekend as you find yourself walking past the gates of the dormitory and entering the residence building. it was dark, which wasn’t unexpected but at this hour, they would usually have the lights on.

you did not care.

you shrugged, thinking they wanted to sleep earlier or so.

as you step foot into the vast dark lounge, you felt a shiver ran down your spine. it was rather cold – colder than it used to be. was it just you or did the lounge seem darker? your mind was playing tricks on you, it had to be.

“…hello?”

you called out, walking further into the dark lounge as you searched for any sort of switch to turn on the lights. that’s when you remembered – their lights are supplied by magic. “drat,” you muttered to yourself, probing around your pockets in search for your cellular device. with your device in your hands, you used it to light a torch and aimed it at the couches.

your feeble telephone torch did not illuminate the room clearly, but at the very least, you were able to see your path.

suddenly, a rustle was heard and you turned around to find nothing. you could have sworn something moved in the corner of your eye.

you let out a sigh, “come on, guys. this isn’t funny.”

you decided to walk upstairs into the residence area – where the bedrooms are. it was just as dark – if not darker – than the lounge. the endless pitch black hallways were daunting, exceedingly unnerving. despite knowing the halls of diasomnia, you can’t help but feel uneasy.

you do not know what lingers in the darkness, after all.

as you silently walked further down into the hall in search of malleus’ bedroom, you felt something slither by your calves, like a snake wrapping itself around your leg before slithering away. you shrieked, jumping in fright as you turned around and pointed the torch around.

there was nothing.

was your mind playing tricks on you?

you sighed once again, continuing to walk down the dark path as you muttered, “what is going on in here?”

there was no sign of anyone, not even the other students. is it possible you came at a wrong time? perhaps they’re all in their extra classes or whatnot. however, it was quite odd for all of them to not be around. not every student takes an extra afternoon class, after all.

“maybe i should just come back later…” you spoke to no one in particular before turning around.

instead of meeting with your previous path back to the stairs, you instead collided with someone as you gasped and took a step back, flashing the torch upward.

before you could see who it was, however, the unknown person wrapped their arms around you and carried you over their shoulder. you were frightened. you were petrified. and so, you did the only thing you could think of in response.

scream.

you screamed and thrashed around, hoping to escape this unknown person’s clutches or at least injure them with your kicks, but to no avail. the person started to walk even further down the hall, and you were starting to become afraid of what you were about to face.

“put me down!!!” you yelled, repeatedly hitting this person’s back with your fists, but they did not have any reaction nor did they say a word to you.

all of a sudden, you were tossed into a room and before you could think, your eyes were covered with a pair of hands.

“guess who~”

hearing the familiar voice supposedly brought a calming effect on you, but at the same time, increased your agitation. you groaned before lifting their hands off your eyes and turning around, throwing a quick punch that was – in turn – dodged.

it was lilia.

he laughed, ruffling your hair. that’s when you noticed silver standing beside him.

so it was silver who scared you in that hallway.

“come on, guys. what’s the big idea?” you pouted, now feeling your heart beat starting to calm itself.

lilia laughed even louder, “we wanted to scare you! sebek was in the lounge, purposely trying to make you think someone was sitting on the couch.”

“so that’s why i saw a silhouette…”

“and malleus was the one who creeped you out with the slithering,” added lilia.

“malleus was in on it, too?!”

“but of course, dearest. hahaha, take it as a warm welcome!” cheered lilia, but it did not feel like a warm welcome at all. regardless, you sighed. “i thought i was about to have a heart attack when silver carried me over his shoulder.”

silver, hearing this, glanced away in embarrassment, “sorry about that.”

you merely smiled at him, “now that you all successfully scared the crap out of me, do you have something to eat?”

“i could coo–“

“no.”

© twstgarden 2024 || please do not steal, translate without my permission, or use this to train a.i.

[ravencincaide]

A caring gesture 

Summary: “Okay, imagine it's Valentine day, and somehow dazai forget it was today (yes this smartass actually forget about it). But you did him the most incredible surprise when he gets back”

Pairing: reader x Dazai

Requested by: @avocate-assia-dazai Thank you so much for participating in Raven's special and sending me this request.

Warnings: Light cursing, Dazai fluff.

Hope you enjoy~

Dazai hated abroad missions; leaving early in the morning and coming home sometime in the wee hours of the night.  His body ached, bruised and beaten while his mind remained foggy, the lack of sleep and the jetlag that came with being awake for over forty eight hours. 

Ahh if only sleep deprivation could grant him the sweet release of death, then Dazai would never utter another complaint. Or maybe precious relief from this plagued life would appear just as his body finally made contact with the all-too welcoming couch of the ADA- the perfect place to slack the remainder of his shift before he could bounce away to your apartment. Yes, just another two steps- one step and Dazai flung his body onto the familiar couch, salvaged its sweet fragrance, soft cushions, fluffy blanket and red velvet material– wait why was it red? 

Instantly Dazai was up on his feet. 

His eyes narrowed as he stared down at the thing which replaced his all too familiar resting spot. Not only was this couch larger and covered in red velvet covers but it was filled with several fluffy blankets in white and pink. The precious space held several heart shaped pillows and on the armrest was a card yet-to-be-placed inside its matching envelope. Happy Valentines Day it said on the front of it, Valentines- Dazai’s eyes widened in realization and frustration as he ran a bandaged hand over his face. Of course, how could he have forgotten? You were talking about it just before he left for the mission, making plans for- for today. Hearing the door to the ADA open Dazai rubbed tiredly at his eyes; the sound of your click clack shoes made a part of him want to hide while another part of him dreaded seeing you. Tiredness washed over him like pulsating headache- hurting him almost as much as the difficult conversation he was expecting to have with you. 

In his experience women did not handle missed valentines well. Surely you’d be no exception, 

“ Oh you’re back early ‘samu” you sounded almost awkward as you came closer and closer to him. Instead of wrapping your arms around him however you stopped a few paces away and let out a low disappointed sigh “ Damn and here I had hoped dinner would arrive before you got back” 

Your words made Dazai’s head snap up and turn to face you, only to see you holding a stack of paperwork in your hands. His paperwork. Which you carefully placed on the couch side table before taking a seat. 

The action made Dazai frown, unsure whether he was seeing the situation correctly. “ Belladonna?” he asked cautiously as he watched you sorting the papers, a concentrated frown on your lips. 

“ hmmm? Sorry, you’ll have to wait a little for dinner. BUT I think it will be here in an hour or so,do you wanna get some rest in the meantime?” he watched, the way you looked up and him a small reassuring smile before going back to the task at hand. 

Cautiously, like a wild animal Dazai inched closer before taking a seat beside you. Careful fingers trailed from your shoulder down your arm. His expression guarded “ It’s Valentine's day today” 

“ I know” you reply picking your next words carefully “ I also know you’ve just returned from abroad so I thought our grand plans could wait until the weekend when–” You didn’t get to finish your sentence as Dazai’s arms snaked around you before pulling you down with him into a lying position. Long legs intertwined with yours, face buried in the crook of your neck. His hold around you was tight, somehow more clingy than usual.

“ Thank you, Bella” Dazai whispered in a rare sign of vulnerable affection, “ Now stay like this while I sleep, I’ll make it up to you later.. please?” and all you could do was nod, not daring to shift in case you disturbed your already half-asleep lover. 

This was not how you two had planned to spend your Valentines together, but judging by Dazai’s actions he didn’t mind the change of plans too much. And neither did you. 

Author note: Happy Valentines day! I hope this request fullfilled your expectations. Stay tuned for the next update in another four hours.

Hope you enjoyed 🩷

Like this work and want more? Check out Raven's Masterlist

©ravencincaide 2024. Do not copy/repost/translate or spread my work(s) without my explicit permission. If you see any of my work(s) reposted/copied anywhere else without my consent, please inform me!

[mlattegirl]

Sin

Rosekiller - Evan POV

Part 2 of Attention by the incredibly talented @lackadaisicallizard

“Surely you could get free drinks and fucked if you went to some other club?” Regulus mocked, sarcasm dripping from every word.

“Yeah, why do you keep going back if every time a guy shows interest in you he gets kicked out?” James asks from his spot by Regulus. Regulus, who had been to the club before looks to Evan, smirking.

“Clearly our little Reggie boy hasn’t filled you in on the sin incarnate that is the owner of the Snake Pit.”

Oh and what sin he was.

It was obscene, really, to look like that. The definition of tall, dark and handsome. The first thing Evan noticed were the tattoos. It was hard not too when every visible piece of tan skin was covered in black ink.  Most of them seemed well done, others were clearly the result of a drunken night out.  

Evan wanted to map all of them out, preferably with his mouth.

God, there was one in particular. A snake that wrapped around the base of his throat with its tail going down his sternum and its mouth by his left ear. Evan wanted nothing more than to trace the path of that tattoo with his tongue.  His dark hair was the kind of effortlessly messy that you could tell took a lot of time and product to get just right. Evan probably thought too much about running his hands through that hair, of seeing how truly messy he could make it.

He was taller than Evan, just barely, but enough that if they stood too close Evan would have to look up to look in his eyes. And his eyes. They were kind of dark brown that they looked black unless the light hit them right.  They were the eyes of someone who took what they wanted and didn’t give a damn about the consequences. Fuck if Evan didn’t want to be taken.

“Are we still calling him that? Sin?” Regulus said, pulling Evan from his reverie.

“Ev, you’ve been going there for months at this point, and you still haven’t gotten laid and you still don’t know his name, it’s time to move on,” Pandora said gently.

But he went back. Just like every other weekend he went back. And just like every other weekend it was the Same.

Fucking.

Thing.

Just like last weekend, Evan wore what Dorcas called a fuck me outfit.  And he danced, letting the music take over, losing himself to bass so loud it throbbed in his bones.  And, like clockwork some guy came over to him, standing a little too close.  Hands a little too low on his waist.  Evan indulged him, inclined his head just so. Leaned into him enough to make him think Evan was interested, lightly touch his chest, all the while making eye contact with him. Sin. And just like every other fucking weekend, Evan’s potential hookup was escorted from the club. Replaced, instead, with a smirk and a mojito.

By the fourth time this happened, Evan was fed up.  Normally, Evan doesn’t approach men. Because normally, Evan doesn’t need to approach men. Normally, all Evan had to do was acknowledge a man and that was enough to get him to come over.

But not this one.

Not Sin.

Maybe it was the three mojitos in the span of an hour. Maybe it was because Evan was so horny it was painful. Or maybe Evan just wanted to wipe that goddamned smirk off of his goddamn perfectly chiseled face.

“What the fuck is your problem.” Evan demanded; anger clear in his tone.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Sin drawled out, he sounded nonchalant, bored even.

“You don’t…you don’t know what I mean?!” Evan all but shrieked. “You can’t be fucking serious! You have kicked out every guy who shows even the most remote amount of interest in me but you don’t know what I mean?”  

“I kick people out of my club for many reasons,” Sin stated evenly, “it just so happens that you attract the ones who deserve to be kicked out.”

“I attract – I attract the ones who deserve to be kicked out?!” Now, Evan was shrieking. “That’s fucking hilarious. A comedian and a club owner, your mother must be so impressed.” Evan said bitterly.

“You know what I think it is?” Evan asked when he did not get a response.

“Do tell,” Sin responded, dragging his gaze lazily up and down Evan before stepping closer.

“I think you’re jealous, you’re jealous and you’re too much of a coward to do anything about it.” Evan said, smirking.

“Is that what you think?” Sin asked, stepping closer to Evan danger glinting in his eyes.

“Why else has it been months of you chasing off every man who comes near me without claiming me for yourself? I mean hell, I don’t even know your name. You’re scared, admit it.”

It was instantaneous, how Sin stepped even closer one hand with a bruising grip on his hip the other on his chin, holding his head in place.

“Claim you? I think you’re mistaken angioletto, I don’t need to claim you because you’re already mine.”

This is written for and dedicated to @lackadaisicallizard. Club owner Barty was originally inspired by @sebbianas. Special thanks to @kat-m-toast (and Liz) for encouraging me to write this.

[mysticalsoot]

miscommunications and mistakes

another fic of my self-indulgent boarding school au

A/N; this was fully based off a dream I had like under a week ago and in all honesty- also reader now has a sister in this au and said sister is dating Tom (don't ask questions okay-)

summary; reader harbours strong feelings for Wil but is too afraid to admit them due to the fear he won't see them for who they are. after they make a slip up after an evening out with him, Wilbur hatches a plan with reader's sister.

tw// swearing, use of bunny as a nickname (reader bounces when excited lol), uses of boy regarding the reader, kissing, lowkey a makeout, dude IDK-- it's like fluff central with dashes of angst..and I wrote Wil as gay in this fic- not making assumptions Abt irl wil- this is just fiction and like super super niche

words; 4.2k

pairings; cc!wilbur x transmale!reader (could be read as nb/non fem presenting, just avoid the uses of boy!)

pronouns; none really! but uses of boy, and uses of y/n!

masterlist

---------------------------------------------------------

Normally on weekends, you'd be back in the dorms, stay on campus and revel in what little alone time you had. The peace of silence draped over the halls. Only broken by a few dorm doors slamming from other levels. 

But nothing was normal with Wilbur. He came prancing into the dorm, practically skipping when he dipped his head into your bunk and gave you the cheekiest grin he could.

"Heyyy, bunny-" You lifted your head immediately at the sound, lifting your attention from your book to his face and your annoyance at the interruption immediately fizzled out when you saw him. He took away all of your worries and anxieties when he looked at you, and you so desperately wanted him more than a friend--

"Hello to you too, bee," You smiled softly at him as you pulled up your legs to give him room to sit at the end of your bunk, "What's got you all giddy this fine Saturday afternoon, hm?" You knew you were smiling so wide that anyone who wasn't as oblivious as Wilbur would've clocked immediately. But Wil doesn't notice the romantic feelings that seep into your gracious smile or the way your eyes sparkle at the idea of getting more time around him.

"Sooo…" He trailed off, leaning to rest his cheek on your knees as he spoke, "I asked your dad if I could take you with me and go out for the day. Like around mid-city? Go to a couple of different craft shops maybe...You know, do what kids usually do these days-" He lifts his head and cuts himself off, a playful smirk replacing his grin.

"Wilbur, I adore you, but I don't think you have the best idea of what 'kids do these days'," You chuckle softly as you meet his eyes and they crinkle at the corners as he leans his head back against the wall, shaking his head and chuckling with you.

"Fine- but would you still like to go?" He asks, his voice soft, only meant for you despite how the question was one that wouldn't hurt if it graced another's ears. It was for you nonetheless but he made sure it was said just for you and god-- if you didn't know better, you'd say there was a reason.

He's straight, Y/N. Get a grip. You thought, like you always did. At this point the phrase was a mantra, said mentally anytime he did something that could even just barely come off as more than platonic. It was a reminder to you that he couldn't feel the same unless he didn't see you as you were. And he made sure you knew he saw you as nothing but a boy. Just as you are.

"Yes, I'd love to," Your smile was soft, warm and you set aside your book and pulled off your covers just to snake out of your bunk. If you'd look in his direction, you would've noticed Wilbur's sweet and soft smile and his eyes big and wide. But you didn't, and so you lived in ignorance any time he gazed at you for longer than a few seconds--which was every time.

"Wonderful.." The word was mumbled under his breath as you put on your shoes, tying them and hopping up afterwards to grab your wallet.

You walked over to the door and waved with your hand, giggling, "Well come on then! We have craft stores to venture into!" 

Your words brought a bright smile to his face as he slunk out of your bunk and followed you, the reminder of his towering height now a thought on the tip of your minds.

"Yes, sir!" He giggles as he follows you, and you feel his hand ghost over your waist from behind, as if he was trying to guide you. Your breath hitches in your throat and stays stuck until his hand is moved back to his side and you let out a small breath, not of relief but you can't entirely tell what feeling lies underneath it.

It wasn't long until you were both outside of Hab 1, exiting into the parking lot and you started walking over to the bus stop. Wilbur grabbed you gently by your wrist and smiled. You turned back to face him, tilting your head to the side as you give him a quizzical look.

He lifted his other hand and dangled your dad's car keys in his palm and your eyes went wide, his hand letting go of your wrist.

"Wil- How?!" Your tone was more surprised as you stepped forward, grasping at the keys almost as if to assure yourself they were real.

"Apparently you're not the only one he favors-" He smiles mischievously and giggles as you grab the keys, before handing them back.

"He trusts you to drive his car? With his child as the passenger?" Your jaw might as well be on the ground with how you gape at Wilbur, at the idea your father trusts him this much. He won't even let Grace drive his car, but then again, she is fifteen and just got her permit so in reality, trusting a sixteen almost seventeen year old with a driver's license a year old actually isn't the worst.

"Yep, he does. I didn't even ask, he just offered. I tried to say no but- Your dad can be scary when he's determined. It also seemed like he wanted to get back to talking to Andy and I'd rather take the offer and let him…talk, than be at the receiving end of his annoyance," He giggles softly as he leads you along across the parking lot to your father's car.

"You mean flirting?" You chuckle softly at the mental image of your dad trying to flirt and falling short repeatedly, even though all he has to do is look Andy's way--

"Okay, that is what I mean-" Wilbur smiles as he scoffs, opening the passenger door and letting you step in before walking to the driver's side and getting in his seat.

The car ride is uneventful after that, music playing in the background as you both hum along to it. Wilbur's eyes intently focused on the road in front of him, more cautious than you've ever seen him before. He was so careful with every move he made, clearly he knew how scary your dad could be when his child is hurt. He could care less about his car getting a scratch or a dent, it's replaceable, expensive, but replaceable. You and your two siblings were not and if you asked any person he passed by through life, he thought the world of you three. You guys are his world and have been since the moment he adopted you. Who knew a mid 20s grad student could find such joy in raising three pre teens into adulthood? The three of you are not pre teens by any means now, and the thought in itself was daunting to him but he found great pride in his kids. Sometimes impulsive decisions you make when you're freshly an adult, pay off.

When Wilbur pulled the car gently into a parking spot, putting it in park and putting the emergency break on--just in case--he sighed and rested his head against the headrest, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. You smiled softly and chuckled along with it as you dipped your head to meet his eyes.

"You okay there, Wil?" He shook his head, as he smiled worriedly.

"Uhh, besides the fact I just drove one of my closest friends in his dad's car, ten minutes away from campus, I'm fine-" He took a few deep breaths as he took the keys out of the ignition and stepped out of the car. You started to follow suit, unlocking your side when he shook his head, "Nope, wait for me."

The words made a dusting of pink crawl up your cheeks as you looked down, smiling to yourself. Wilbur practically ran around the car to your side and he opened the door, "Such a gentleman," You giggled as you stepped out of the car, his hand held out for you and you take it. He closes the door behind you and holds onto your hand for a few seconds longer than what is platonically acceptable--

He's straight, stop it. Another thought, another mantra and you take a deep breath, walking with him onto the sidewalk. You smiled over at him as he smiled back, his eyes on you for a split second before refocusing on the concrete of the walkway and you felt his arm ghost around your waist again, hovering ever so slightly. It's there, but it isn't and you two walked into the first shop, a small bookstore combined with a bakery.

Your eyes lit up at the scents that wafted up your nose immediately, assaulting your senses with warm pastries and the smell of old books despite most of the books being sold are brand new. Wilbur noticed your glowing expression and giggled, the two of you finding a spot out of the way to look at the menu. He leaned down closer to you and spoke by your ear, "Get anything you want, okay? I'm paying, so don't even try to pull out your wallet." He smiled as he pulled back, readjusting his attention to the large menu board on the wall, his arm going back to his side.

You knew not to argue, you wouldn't win anyways, and he'd go as far as taking your wallet and hiding it from you if you even dared to pay. So you shrugged and tried to find a pastry that piqued your interest and it wasn't hard to--it was still before noon and while you ate breakfast with your sister in the cafeteria, you still had a hankering for something breakfast-y. 

You told Wilbur your order and he guided you with him to the counter, him taking control of ordering and getting you what you ordered a long with a crossiant for himself. He was smiling politely during the interaction and you watched him the whole time, how he nodded at the cashier, bounced his head a slight bit as his card got rung up. The slight frustration in his eyes when the card wouldn't read the first time--every bit. It wasn't unusual for you to notice all of the small things about him, but to watch him do something like this, somehow felt domestic and just made the happy feelings erupt and flutter in your stomach.

He's straight, why can't you see that? Another thought and you're looking away, trying to hide the small frown that crawls onto your lips.

His arm ghosts again, your lower back now, and then his hand is on your side. You were zoned out, didn't notice the small smile on his lips as he nodded to something the cashier said and then he smiled over at you before guiding you to a table by a window.

He pulls out the chair to the left, smiling and waving for you to take a seat, you do with a soft smile on your lips and he takes his seat across from you. This feels so…nice. But misleading. It almost feels wrong to even imagine the possibility of this being more than a close platonic friendship. Anything more than the obvious.

He breaks the silence with a soft smile, resting his chin on his palm while his other hand rests on the table. You catch his fingers twitching, almost like he was going to reach out to you, but restrained himself, "So after this, craft store?"

"I need yarn anyways, it's dad's birthday soon-" You chuckle softly and Wilbur shakes his head with a smile, scoffing playfully.

"When do you not need yarn?" A small and teasing smirk crawls up on his lips as he folds his arms on the table, leaning forward just a hair.

"When I'm dead," Despite the monotone aura of your delivery, you're smiling widely, a playfulness held in your eyes.

Wilbur laughs softly at you, his eyes crinkling like they always do and his nose scrunching up while he smiles warmly, "Let's hope that isn't soon, alright?" His tone has a genuine warmth to it, like a part of him means what he says and you swear the way he says 'alright?' will be the death of you.

"Well, if I do die soon, Andy is going to have a handful with my father," You scoff slightly, shaking your head at the thought, the conversation topic is dark but your smiles and your playful tone makes it softer.

The moment you finished speaking, your order was called and when you went to stand and get it--Wilbur stopped you by placing his hand on yours for a brief moment, his eyes glancing at yours with a gentle warning in them. So he stood up and walked over, grabbing the two drinks and pastries he ordered for you both, and found his spot back across from you. He rested an arm on the table as he ate his pastry, watching as you eat yours with a happy sway.

"You like it?" Wilbur giggled as he watched you, putting down his pastry so he could rest his chin on his palm, and admire you with a soft smile.

You nodded your head excitedly, smiling wide as you chew. Wilbur smiles as he shakes his head in awe before he finishes his own pastry, you following suit.

The both of you had gotten up afterward, taking your drinks and wandering around the bookshop, picking out books or trinkets for one another. You found a space pen for your dad, Wilbur smiling at your thoughtfulness when you saw it, immediately going on about how much your dad would love it-- how he needed one after Evan stole all of his favorite ones. Wilbur found the moment endearing, seeing you so excited about getting something so small but meaningful for your father. You weren't even there for him, but you managed to think of him anyways.

The rest of your afternoon was spent together, walking around mid-city, going to different shops and making jokes, and sharing glances that should be a tell of mutual feelings but you both were much too oblivious. And afraid.

You feared he was straight or rather, you knew he was straight, whilst Wilbur feared that if you knew he liked you, you'd think he thought that way because he saw you as a girl. Which was not true by any means but he knew you too well, he knew how your mind worked, how those negative thoughts would seep in and infest anything positive.

It was inching closer and closer to dinner time for that evening, and you both promised that you'd be back beforehand, even if it was the weekend, neither of you liked being late for things. Regardless of if lunch times were flexible and merely a suggestion, it still bothered you both to be there past time.

"So, did you enjoy your day?" Wilbur asked softly as he looked down at you, a sweet smile on his lips as he admired you. You didn't notice the glint in his eyes or the way he bit his lip gently when he looked at you. How would you notice?

"I loved it, Wil," Your own smile matched his and as you went to open the passenger side door, Wilbur tsked and immediately opened it for you. You groan at him, in playful annoyance as you roll your eyes, "Seriously, Wilbur?" 

"Yes, seriously. I am a gentleman, am I not?" The boy smiles softly, eyes crinkling and glowing with…appreciation and platonic love--which is what you decided to call it and you hoped it was something more.

“If I argue, I'm not going to get anywhere, am I?” You tilt your head to the side slightly, a teasing and playful smirk on your lips as you fold your arms over your chest. You lean against the side of the car door, chin up to meet his eyes. He looked away for a moment, smiling as a blush crawled onto his cheeks, and when he looked back at you, his lips curled into a coy smile.

“You’ll never win, darling,” He smirked softly as he dipped his head close to yours, not so far as to insinuate anything more than teasing, platonic banter, but enough to toe the line just a hair.

“Okay- Fine.”

You tried to ignore the way your voice cracked at the end, how your blush showed on your face, and how your voice entirely deceived you. Wilbur won't notice, you thought, he’s too oblivious.

He did, but he simply smiled to himself as he shut the passenger side door and walked around the car to the driver’s side. The drive was decently silent, a comment here and there but the drive back to campus was short anyhow so there wasn’t much you could say anyhow. Once he pulled into a parking space, he leaned against the headrest, turning his head to face you, a small smile on his lips.

You smiled back and as you looked at him, he felt too distracting. Everything about him, his stupid fuzzy curls, those puppy eyes--the way his dimples and smile lines showed ever so slightly. How his lips were so pink, curled into such a small and sweet smile--his cheeks softly dusted with pink- You wanted to kiss him right then and there, it was stupid but you weren’t sure how much longer you could let yourself hold back. And it wasn’t like you were the one to make impulsive decisions by any means. You weren't someone to let your feelings overtake your logical thinking but god…he looked too pretty to think about it. So you kissed him. You leaned over the central console and you kissed him, it was just a simple peck but it was enough to spark fireworks in your stomach. It felt like an eternity that you had your lips on his when it was mere moments before you pulled back and reality rushed in. How stupid you felt and now how embarrassed you were.

"God-- Wil, I'm sorry just-- Sorry." You mutter out, turning a deep shade of red and feeling that burning feeling of guilt build in your gut. You reached over and opened the car door just moments later and Wilbur did the same on his side, not saying anything in response. You wished he would just yell at you, it's better than painful silence like this.

He stopped at the gate, stumbling over his words, “Uh, I promised Tech I would hang out with him- like over in the Davidson Center so I- I’ll see you later, yeah?”

You nodded, trying to give a soft smile but ultimately failing and walking the other way.

You are an idiot, or at least that’s the conclusion you’re coming to. It isn’t greatly beneficial but neither is impulsively kissing your probably straight best friend, now is it?

You tried to shrug off every negative and intrusive thought, walking up the stairs to your dorm so you could vent and complain to your sister, and that plan couldn’t be spoiled at this point. A few more steps and you were swinging open the dorm door, sighing from relief when you find Grace entirely alone in the dorm.

“Jesus- knock next time!” She jumped in her place, nearly screaming as she got spooked from reading peacefully in her bunk. Her face was written in a slight scowl but her expression softened the moment you met her eyes, “What’s wrong?”

“I fucked up,” You run your hands down your face as you find a seat on the bench, leaning against the desk.

“How..so?” Grace’s voice was unsure as she climbed down the ladder of her bunk, walking over to you, and sitting next to you.

“I kissed him-”

“Wait really? Finally!” She was beaming with excitement and you shoot a glare at her, her demeanor changes immediately, “How bad?”

“Okay well for starters- after he didn't even say anything until we got to the gate and then he told me he was going to see Tech- and that’s fine honestly it could’ve gone worse but I really think I messed up big time now- I mean, he’s straight for fucksake!” You speak all in one breath, taking a deep breath afterward and leaning your head on your sister's shoulder.

She holds back a laugh as she whispers, “Did he kiss back?”

“Yeah-” She was about to cut you off when you spoke again, “But it doesn’t mean anything. It could’ve just been instinct,” You screw your eyes shut, the guilt building up into your throat, burning your insides.

“You’re not going to listen to what I have to say so I’ll say this; give him time to process and you won’t feel like such shit anymore, okay? Now, I think you should go lay under the Saturn V and decompress, yeah? It’s your spot,” Grace smiles softly as she ushers you up to stand, nearly pushing you out of the dorm.

“Fine- Fine- I get it, Tom is coming over isn't he?” You throw a playful smirk as you chuckle softly at the way your sister is acting. She scowls softly and a slight pink tint crawls up her cheeks.

“No- absolutely n- okay maybe. Now, go!” You roll your eyes playfully as you walk away.

A bit of fresh air wouldn’t hurt.

The thing is, the Davidson Center, which is where the decoy Saturn V sits outside, is on the other side of campus. So while it was mid-October and decently chilly, you still managed to break a sweat and be a bit out of breath. The hilly paths and the heat leftover from the day radiating from the asphalt also did not help. A few minutes passed and you were through the gate and under the large rocket.

You sighed a breath of relief at how cool it was underneath, not a single drop of sunlight as the sun began to set behind the hills and trees. So you found a seat underneath, closing your eyes and letting the wind rake through your hair and fan over your face, silence draping your being in a meditative comfort.

And then it was broken, “Hey, bunny,” Your eyes shot open at the sound of the familiar voice, the nickname processing only afterward, and the voice was quickly identified as Wilbur.

“I thought you had plans with your brother?” You ask softly, moving to stand from your spot on the concrete. You didn’t take any steps forward, but he took them towards you.

“I did, he had a meeting with his crew trainer that got in the way,” He shrugs, smiling soft and sweet as he took a few more steps towards you, the space between both of you, now gone.

You smile back, memories of fear and guilt so far gone that all you feel is that usual hoard of butterflies in your gut. He puts his hands gently on your upper arms, his thumbs rubbing softly as he looks down, shuffling his feet. Part of you wants to freeze at his touch, but you instead melt, letting out a soft and satisfied sigh.

“I need to tell you something,” Wilbur starts, his feet stopping their shuffles as he moves his eyes to meet yours.

“Yeah?” Your voice is soft and small, eyes widened only slightly as you search his face for any inkling of what he may need to say--and you come up with nothing.

“I think…” He trails off as his eyes dart from yours down to your lips and back to your eyes, “I think it would be better if I speak with action,” And so, he drops his hands to your sides, letting himself wear a small smirk on his lips before he leans down and captures you in a deep and passionate kiss. One that if it goes on too long, lips will be left pink and swollen from how much love gets poured into it. Wilbur then moves a hand up to cup your cheek, and then his other on your other cheek, thumbs rubbing the soft skin gently as you reach your arms up and drape them over his neck. You pull him down slightly, opening your mouth just a hair more to somehow deepen the kiss even more than it already is. His body presses on yours as you press yours upwards onto his. Soft sighs and sounds of excitement slip out, swallowed by one another as sweet smiles curl up on both of your lips. It’s only when you’re both desperate for air that he pulls back, running his thumb over your lips, admiring how pink they are. And he smirks, “Oh, I’m gay by the way,” He chuckles softly as you swat at his arm, smiling wide from euphoria.

“No fucking shit, Sherlock!” You both giggle and he drops his head down onto your shoulder, pulling you close into a hug.

“I’m sorry about earlier- I was… kind of shocked and I didn’t know how to react. I just- I hope this makes up for it,” He sighs against your shoulder before turning his face against your neck, rubbing your back as he smiles, “I like you, like, a lot. And in the gay way.”

You giggle in response, “You know, I like you too,”

taglist; @sleepyburs @lillylvjy @ella-fella-bo-bella

[pattypanini]

Lay All Your Love On Me

Chapter 7- Girls Night Out

Jake Kiszka x Reader and Josh Kiszka x Reader

Word Count: 4.5k

TAGLIST

AN: Hi everyone! Here is the seventh chapter of Lay All Your Love On Me from me and @mar-rein12! Although this chapter does not have anyone going to pound town, we wanted to have a chapter where you could get a little lore on y/n and her friends.

Warnings: 18+, Alcohol (like an insane amount do NOT do this), sexting, nudes, cursing, angst. (Not very exciting stuff but your not ready for chapter 8 and 9 so take this chapter as a breathe of fresh air.)

Y/n’s POV

It’s been a little over a week since that night with Jake. After receiving that late-night text from Josh, things have gotten better between you two, but the guilt was still eating away at you. Josh has been friendly, but not as sexual with you. Sure, you’ve wanted to go over a few times and he's teased at it but nothing ever came of it. You missed your time with him. To make matters worse, you haven’t heard from Jake since that fateful night. You didn’t really know where you stood with either of them. You were confused by your own feelings. 

There you stood on the stage, right beside Josh, preparing to run ‘the wedding scene’. Your stage mom begins to walk you down ‘the aisle’ when the music begins to play, Josh standing at the altar. As the priest begins to speak, Donna interrupts him making the announcement about Sophie’s father. 

Your dialogue continues with your mother, “ I don’t care if you slept with hundreds of men. You’re my mom and I love you so much.” You give her a warm embrace. 

“I haven't slept with hundreds of men,” she chuckles along with you. Sam, one of your potential dads, walks up to the front and begins the tense conversation. As all your possible dads, come join you at the altar to support you in your marriage, for you to call off the wedding.

“Sky, let's just not get married yet. You never wanted this anyway. I know that. Let's just get off this island and just see the world!” You project in your animated acting voice. “Okay? Alright?” 

Josh pulls you in for a kiss and a hug. “I love you.” You know it was just acting, but you genuinely felt cared for in that moment. Josh scoops you up, bridal style, and carries you off stage. 

When you make it backstage, Josh gently puts you down, accidentally swiping his hand across your ass. You know it doesn’t mean anything, but you couldn’t help feeling a little spark. You take a deep breath, innocently resting your head on his shoulder. His left arm snakes around your body, gripping at your waist to pull you into his side. His mouth leans down towards your ear, lightly whispering “You did so well. This is gonna be a really good show.” 

“It really is.” There’s a moment of silence before you decide to bring something up that you have been thinking about for a little bit now. “We've gone through some real character development with each other. We went from enemies, to fucking, and now we’re really good friends. I would say that's pretty good.” 

“I wouldn’t say we were enemies.”

“I would, you hated me. But it doesn't matter because we're here now better than ever.” You stand there whispering a little closer. “But I do miss our times together. I think about it sometimes…”

“No one ever said they had to stop, you just never came over.” He places a little kiss on the top of your head. Giving you butterflies.

He was right, you haven't been over since your night with Jake, you felt weird going over. It felt wrong. But you’d be lying if you said you haven’t wanted to, maybe you should.

“Okay so when are we hanging out.” You ask boldly. 

“How about this weekend. We can go out Saturday, and if things lead to it you can come back to the apartment. Jake will probably be there. Do you care?”

Of course he’ll be there. But you couldn't act like that would change your mind. “Yeah that sounds good. I can't wait.”

“This might be a little pushy now but do you maybe wanna call tonight and catch up. Even though we’ve been hanging out during practice we haven't been talking much since then.”

“I mean we didn’t really talk a lot before that either, we kinda just fucked.” You chuckle a little.

 “True but we still texted more. So can we?” Josh asks with puppy dog eyes.

“As much as I’d like to I can’t tonight, I’m going out with Charlotte and the girls. We’re going to go bar hopping.” 

“On a Thursday?”

“Yeah! Thirsty Thursday.” A small giggle bubbles out of you nervously. Why was he making you nervous?

“Okay, well, what about tomorrow night?” He pushes. 

“Someone sounds a little desperate.” You tease him. 

“Is it desperate to want to talk to my friend?” Friend. You hadn’t heard him refer to you as his friend before, it was weird. But you pushed that feeling down and shook it off.

“Yes definitely, we can call, but why don’t you just have me over?”

“My dads coming up on Friday with my little brother to visit. He’s probably gonna come here unless he convinces our parents to let him work on music the way he wants to. Jake didn’t get out of that one.”

You chuckle a little. “Yeah sure we can call tomorrow and then hang out Saturday.”

“Sounds like a plan, I’m really excited.”

“Me too.” You smile at him,  really excited for this new era of the two of you. 

-

As your friends, Arianna and Mae, make their way to your apartment, Char finalizes her look for the evening you finish off your hair still in your satin robe. Char was sporting a red v-neck bodysuit with black flare leather pants. 

As you look at your closet you ponder on what to wear but couldn’t think of anything good. Maybe you could have a little fun tonight. You open your phone to your messages opening a new chat.

9:45pm y/n: What am I wearing tonight hottie?

9:46pm Jake: Didn’t expect to be hearing from you, I missed you.

It felt wrong, but you weren’t tied down, you weren’t with Josh. 

9:47pm y/n: I missed you too, I’ve been thinking about you a lot. Sooo I’m going out tonight, what am I wearing?

9:47pm Jake: Depends, where are you going?

9:48pm y/n: Bar hopping in town.

9:53pm Jake: Wear the baby pink tank that you wore on your insta a few weeks ago for your friend’s sorority event and that white mini skirt you wore in your Christmas post.

9:54pm y/n: Stalker much lol

9:56pm Jake: I told you I’ve had my eye on you for a while now.

You make your way to your closet and pick out the pieces of clothing Jake chose. You opted for no bra since this shirt held your boobs in place since it's pretty tight.

10:05 pm y/n: Done, thanks for the recommendation.

10:06pm Jake: Umm… no. Not how this works, show me beautiful. I wanna see that sexy body of yours.

You take a quick mirror picture, making sure to pose in a way that accentuates your curves. 

10:07pm y/n: Attachment: 1 image

10:08pm Jake: Perfect as always. I really love having some control over you. You know since I can’t really be with you other than in secret. 

10:10pm y/n: Thank you 😘 I like it too, you can control me however you’d like. 

10:12pm Jake: I'll keep that in mind. Keep me updated tonight, I'll be thinking about you.

You slip on your white booties and clasp your plain gold chain around your neck, along with your classic initial necklace and daily earring stack.

“y/n, Arianna and Mae are here now. Are you ready soon?” You hear Char shout from the other room. 

“Yeah one moment!” You make sure your makeup and hair look up to standard and finish everything off with deodorant and a quick spritz of your favorite perfume. You make your way out of your room, being met with the faces of your best friends. The room fills with shrieks and cheers as everyone sees each other all dressed up. 

“You look so hot, y/n. Your outfit is serving cunt,” Char never fails to make you feel good about yourself. Arianna and Mae agree with her, as Ari pulls her phone from her purse. 

“Selfie?” she says holding her phone up. You all lean into each other, smiles plastered across your soon to be drunken faces. 

“Alright! The uber is gonna be here any minute. One shot, then we gotta go.” Char says lining the shot glasses up on the table, she pours the clear liquid into the tiny glasses. Everyone throws their heads back to take their shot.

“WOOOOO! Lets fucking do this!” Mae screams at the top her longs making her way to the door. God you loved these girls.

Once you are finally in the Uber you feel a buzz come from your lap. 

10:27pm Josh: Be safe tonight, lmk if you need anything. I’ll be thinking about you.

I’ll be thinking about you. These twins have you fucked up, majorly.

10:27pm y/n: Thanks, have a good night too ☺️

When you finally make it to your first bar you and the girls hop out of the uber, feeling excited and ready for the night. Your heels clack against the concrete as you make your way down the sidewalk. You open the door of the bar and you’re immediately smacked in the face with deafeningly loud music and an intense wave of heat. 

“Holy shit, it's hot in here,” You hear Mae announce from behind you. You all make your way over to the bar to order your drinks. 

Arianna, Char, and Mae voice their drink choices to the bartender, as you stand there trying to decide what to get. You came to the conclusion that you needed something strong, something to help you let loose and forget about those god damn Kiszka boys. 

“May I have a long island, please.” You politely ask the bartender and turn around on your heels to face your friends. They are all staring back at you with widened eyes, drink in hand. 

“Damn girl, we’re only at the first bar,” Arianna jokes, a laugh erupting from the other two. 

“I know, I just really want to let loose tonight, it’s been so long since we've all seen each other. Besides, it’s okay to get fucked up every now and then,” you wink at them, you all share a boisterous laugh. “Ugh, I missed you guys so much.” You pull them all in for a big group hug, and pull away only when the bartender offers you up your drink. You give him a quick ‘thank you’ and make your way over to the booth the girls snatched up. 

You squeeze into the booth beside Char, who is sipping away at her vodka spritz. You take a sip of your own drink and spark up a conversation, “So, what have you guys been up to lately? Any special men in your lives?” 

You watch as Mae’s cheeks flush a light pink, “Actually, I have been talking to this guy. He's a really cute, kinda surfer boy with blonde hair. He’s from Hawaii and said that I should come down to visit him so he can teach me how to surf. Isn’t that so romantic?”

“How did you meet him?” Ari asks, wanting to know all the details.

“Well I was there in Hawaii for like a month on vacation, he was wearing a Michigan sweatshirt so I went up to chat and he said he was transferring here. We hooked up a few times while I was there and we’ve been talking for a few months now, I think it's getting real.” 

“That's so cute Mae! I'm so happy for you. When will I get to meet this amazing man?” You ask excitedly. You were happy at least one of your friends wasn’t struggling with relationships like you were. 

“Umm I don’t know , maybe I can introduce you guys to him this week. And what about you y/n anyone new on the roster or are you finally settling down?” Mae says, wiggling her eyebrows up and down.

“Nothing crazy, just doing my normal stuff.” You say, trying to bypass the question.

“Ummmm no actually, you’ve been pretty occupied with a certain someone for the past few weeks. He has even been over to the apartment.” Char says sipping at her drink, looking over to Ari and Mae.

“The apartment?! No guys are ever brought there, he must be special y/n.” Mae adds, giving you a sentimental look.

“He’s just been a good hookup, it's really nothing crazy. Don't act like you guys haven't gotten with the same guys more than once.”

“Well who is it?”

“That's none of your business, Ari.” You tease her with a devious smile on your face.

Mae and Ari look to Charlotte, knowing that at some point she would spill. You can see her struggling to hold it in before…

“IT'S JOSH KISZKA! I’m sorry y/n I really tried to keep it in.” Your forehead falls into your palm not wanting to look up at the group. “Charlotte, seriously!”

“Josh Kiszka, like the sexy theater kid Josh Kiszka?” Mae’s eyes are practically popping out of her head.

“Is there any other?” You reply dryly.

“How did you guys start talking, I hear he’s a hard one to get with. Heard he's kind of an ass, too” Ari says leaning towards you.

“Being an ass is 100% true, getting with him was actually pretty easy though. He was ready to risk it all the first time we hung out together outside of practice for the musical.” You feel the alcohol begin to take effect on your body.

“And his brother Jake, well the one time-.” Everyone is sitting waiting for you to finish. “Well he’s always gone. Josh always kicks him out of the house. I barely even knew he existed.” Lie. “Except for when he walked in on us.”

“WHAT! When???” Mae’s bright blue eyes grow even wider than before. 

“I don’t know, a few weeks ago? It was the first time we hung out alone. He made Jake go to a friend's house and then Jake forgot he had to go and walked in on us. Honestly, I think he did it on purpose.”

Ari cuts in. “I bet he did, I had a class with him freshman year and I overheard him talking with some kid. I think it was Tommy Bucks, nonetheless, they were looking at your Insta and Jake was saying some crazy stuff.”

“L-like what?” Suddenly you’re completely sober. 

“Oh I don’t know normal boy stuff. ‘She’s so sexy, I’d fuck her, She has a fat ass.’ Just the usual.” 

“I did end up getting with Tommy actually, I think.” You mention. You all share a little giggle. 

“Have you ever thought about getting with Jake?”

Oh fuck. “Like I said, I don't really know him. Only time I talked to him was when I had to leave and he apologized.” Oh, you were going to hell. 

“Makes sense.” Ari adds, Mae nodding in agreement. But Charlotte's face was telling a different story. Her eyes narrow at you, in suspicion. 

You chug the rest of your drink. “Next bar?” you suggest. 

Everyone nods and quickly takes their last sip before grabbing their things and heading out the door to the next bar. There were a good amount of bars nearby so taking an Uber wasn’t necessary. 

When you finally get to the next bar you start thinking about him. He’s been on your mind a lot recently, but you were so confused with your emotions. Things were becoming way too complicated for your liking. Against your better judgment, you decide to shoot him a text. 

11:15pm y/n: I miss you, I want you. Wish you were here.

11:16pm Jake: I miss you too sexy, and your body. I wish I could be with you, taking that slutty little outfit off. Who picked that out again?😏

“y/n order your drink!!!” Char screams into your ear over the blaring music. You look up from your phone noticing you’ve been staring at your phone for a little bit. 

“I’ll just have a strawberry daiquiri please, thank you.” Your eyes go straight back to your phone, fingers typing away quickly. 

11:16pm y/n: You did baby and I wouldn’t mind you taking it off of me either. 

Something washed over you, maybe you were ovulating but you were feeling a certain type of way. 

11:16pm y/n: Wanna see me, Jakey?

11:17pm Jake: Of course, sexy girl. Show me what's mine.

The bartender hands you your drink, and immediately you take a big gulp emptying half the glass. 

11:18pm y/n: Who said I was yours?

11:18pm Jake: Is anyone else getting these pics?

11:18pm y/n: No

11:19pm Jake: Then they’re mine, along with your body, all mine.

Next thing you know, Charlotte fingers are snapping in your face. “y/n, it’s girls night not ‘whoever your textings’ night.”

“Okay fineee.” You slur out,  shoving your phone back into your purse. You take another large swig of your beverage, following the girls out to the dance floor. One of your favorite party songs comes on, Bloodline by Ariana Grande. Perfect timing. 

“Even though you’re bad for me, I know!” You serenade Charlotte. Well, maybe more like scream at her. “You’re the one that I’m thinkin, got me feelin’ so incredible. Would you mind maybe linkin?” You sway your hips to the beat and every now and then take a sip of your daiquiri. 

Your favorite part of the song comes on, and with the influence that you were under, you were being absolutely obnoxious. “DON'T WANT YOU IN MY BLOODLINE, YUH. NOT TRYNA MAKE YOU ALL MINE, YUH. AND NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE, NO. BUT YOU GON’ HAVE TO LET THIS SHIT GO.” You scream the lyrics with your chest, jumping all around with Char, Ari, and Mae. This was the most fun you had in a while, but he was still lingering in the back of your mind. 

As you continue to dance, your drink slightly sloshes around in your cup. Charlotte, in her drunken haze, accidentally bumps into you,sending your drink flying all over your shirt. “Oh my God, y/n. I-I’m so sorry,” she apologizes, her words slurring together. 

“Char, it’s not a problem, really. I’m just going to run to the bathroom real quick to dry off. I’ll be right back!” You begin to walk away from the dance floor towards the bathroom.

“Do you want me to come help?” You hear Charlotte ask.

“No, no. It’s okay, I promise. I’ll be quick. Might take a piss while I'm in there, too.” You hand your drink to Char and disappear through the singular bathroom door, quickly locking the door behind you. You grab a few pieces of toilet paper and try to wipe off as much of the drink as you can. Oh fuck. When you look into the mirror, your nipples fully see through your baby pink top. Wait. You look back to the door to make sure it is locked. 

Opening your camera you take a few shots of yourself. One straight on, seeing your nipples through the shirt. One from above showing your cleavage, making sure to push and pull them in all the right places. You look back to see them. Damn you look pretty good. You take one more shot from below, showing your ass peeking out of your skirt. Perfect.

11:31pm y/n:  Attachments: 3 Images 

11:31pm y/n: I hope you're still thinking of me, I know I’m thinking of you.

11:33pm Jake: Holy fuck y/n, you’re so fucking hot. I need you so bad. Show me more baby please, I'm so desperate for you. 

11:34pm y/n: You want me to come over?

11:35pm Jake: Really? Please.

11:36pm y/n: No, keep dreaming tho 😉

11:37pm Jake: You're such a tease. I think you owe me now.

11:38pm y/n: You’ll get more later don’t you worry baby. Ttyl 😘

You quickly take your piss and make your way back onto the dance floor trying to find where your friends were sitting. When you finally locate them you take a seat next to Mae and take a sip of your drink.

“Char get off of HayDay, I swear you're addicted.” Mae says from across the table, much louder than she has to.

“HayDay is life guys. I’m almost to level 40 and I need to get my stuff ready for my boat.” She slurs as she stares at her phone like a little kid. You giggle at her taking a larger sip of your drink. I really want a beer.

“I think I’m gonna get a corona. I'm in the mood for it.” You say before slipping off your seat trying to make your way to the bar.

Ari grabs you by the shoulder, “y/n, I think you should slow down a little on the drinks.” 

“Omg you guys are so boringggg. I don’t even have class until 4 tomorrow so I’ll deal with it before then.” You continue your way to the bar asking the bartender for a corona with a lime. As you wait for the bartender to return with your drink you meet with an old face. Oh shit.

“What’s up, pretty lady.”

“Hi Mark.” You give a dry response not super happy to be seeing him especially after the call situation when you were with Josh. 

Mark used to be a regular hook up for you. He was an attractive man, 6 foot 2 and played basketball for the university. You met him in a class last semester and through ‘studying’ you began to see each other more often. Which led to makeouts and then quickly became hookups. But his attractiveness is as far as it went. He had an awful personality and wasn’t very faithful to any of his past girlfriends. And while he may seem charming on the outside, once you got to know him, his aggressiveness came out. He would get mad when you slept with other men even though you weren’t dating. So you slowly weaned off him and didn’t really reach out to him after that. 

“Why the sour face, aren’t you happy to see me?” He asks with his classic smirk.

“Not really Mark, so if you don’t mind I’m gonna go back to my friends now.”

“Whatever y/n, give me a call whenever you’re actively fucking someone else” Mentioning the call that happened the other day. 

“Why did it make you jealous hearing someone else make me feel good?” You give him a fake little pout, pretending to feel sorry for him. 

“Not at all, I know you’ll be crawling back to me whenever you get bored of the current man.” He says bluntly, walking away without another word. 

Fuck him. You grab your drink and head back to the table. “Guys you would not believe who I just saw.” You say sitting back in your seat.

Charlotte looks up from her phone, ready to hear the drama. “Who, spill.”

“Mark.”

“I fucking hate him bro. I don’t know why you hooked up with him for so long.” Char rolls her eyes.

“I didn’t give a shit about his personality, I just wanted to be dicked down.”

“Well, I think it's a sign we should head out.” Char says quickly sipping the rest of her drink down. You quickly grab your beer, chugging as much as you can before handing it off to Mae to finish the rest.

The last two bars were a drag. You didn’t drink that much due to the fact that you heavily drank in the last two. You finally get into the Uber and doze off until you are nudged by Char when you arrive at the apartment. 

When you make your way inside you shake off your boots and head back to your room. Jeez you look a mess. A hot mess nonetheless. You open your phone to a couple texts. 

The first being from Josh. 

12:47am Josh: Lmk when you get home safe. 

1:23am y/n: I just got back, Thanks for checking in on me, Josh. 🥰 Ttyt

The second being a less innocent text from his twin brother. 

1:04am Jake: I’ve been thinking about you all night. There hasn’t been a moment I wasn’t thinking of you. 

1:12am Jake: You make me wanna touch myself y/n. 

1:25am y/n: I can help you out with that 😉

1:26am Jake: Please baby I need it. If you don’t want to, it's okay, but I wanna cum to you. You make me fucking crazy.

You smirk at his texts. Oh, how you love begging men. You slip off your top and take a picture of yourself, holding one tit in your hand pushing it up slightly, snapping the photo. Maybe it was the alcohol but something came over you. You begin to take a little video. Holding your tit and pushing it up to your mouth. Sticking your tongue out trying to lick your tits, something that has been proven to get the men going. 

1:29am y/n: 2 Attachments: 1 image, 1 video 

1:30am y/n: I’ll talk to you tomorrow, enjoy your little videos, and don’t be scared to save them for a later date. Night Jakey😘

Without waiting for another text you plug in your phone and take off your skirt slipping into a large shirt. Taking off your makeup was not even a thought, you crawled into bed, reminiscing the best girls night out ever.

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@demonrat444 @gvfstuddedmajesty @jordie-gvf @jazzyfigz @slut4lando @gvfmarge @peaceloveunitygvf @jjwasneverhere @areuirish @mar-rein12 @woyayaofdreams @freyjalw @musicspeaks @jennabobenasblog @do-it-jakey-baby @dannys-dream @sarah-gvf01 @jakekiszkapunchmeintheface

[fanficbrainrot25]

CAN WE PLEASE GET SOLID SNAKE SMUT PLEASE IM BEGGING LITERALLY ON MY KNEES🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Lonesome Cabin [MDNI]

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Out in the Alaskan snow, you and the legend — and old friend — Solid Snake have a sparring match. You practically begged David to train with you, wanting to show off your improvement since the last time you saw each other. However, the weather has other plans for you, and a snowstorm cuts off the session early. In the cabin, with powdery snow blowing past, you look for warmth in each other's arms.

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TAGS: Solid Snake/Reader, Fem!reader, PRE-MGS1, friends to lovers, smut, snowed in, SNOWSTORMS!!!, oh no whatever will we do, hmmm I guess we could snuggle... just for warmth ofc, a little rushed, not really proof read, i did this in a weekend, my first time writing smut lmao

WORD COUNT: 1,975

A/N: I just wanna say this is heavily inspired by a solid snake bot I saw on c.ai. The creator is @ caetuna ! Although I don't use c.ai anymore, if you do, please support them! Their bots were simply fantastic and made me enjoy the app a little more 

anyways, thanks for being my first request! enjoyyy 🫶

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You're not sure why Dave agreed to your crazy idea. Afterall he had every reason not to.

Snake and you hadn't been in contact for quite awhile. Granted, you both had your own life's to tend to but, you still should have atleast called. So when you did, and asked if it was okay if you stopped by his place on your journey across Alaska, you most definitely didn't expect him to say yes. 

It was an obligation really, to atleast say hi to him. And show off your new skills in the process.

"Are you sure about this?" Snake grumbles.

"Yes I am."

"You really think you've improved enough to beat me? You?"

"Snake c'mon..."

"I just find it ridiculous is all." With that thought, he gets into stance. "Well, if that's the case, then come on. Show me what you got."

Getting into stance, you face him in the snow. The clothes you two had on were probably not enough for the chill, but who cares about that anyway?  Snake's brown hair danced along with the gentle breeze that came through, obscuring his face for a moment. He seemed to have grown a bit of a stubble since the last time you saw him, though you don't blame him. Who would bother with shaving out here? He's retired anyway, and lives in a lonesome cabin, it's not like he has anyone to look nice for. Not that you know of.

It looked good on him.

"Let me know when you're ready." 

His deep voice brings you back to reality. "Ah, right." You shift in the snow a little more, trying to get into your flow state. 

Fists clenched, you spring towards him, sending a few jabs towards him which he blocks with ease. You try to sweep his leg, which catches him off guard, sending him flying down. He's quick to recover, springing back up and sending a kick in your direction. Somehow he grabs your arm and spins you around until you land against his chest. His breathing is heavy, you could see the mist of it infront of you, coming out unevenly. You just him in the ribs, catching him off guard. With him distracted, you put some distance between you two. Snake however, is quick to chase you down.

He sends punches one after the other. It's relentless, one after the other, and he just screeches to a stop. You take the opening, sending a punch — which ends up being really foolish — since he takes your arm and flips you over on your back. The impact explodes your back with pain, the frosty snow numbing the ache. 

"Ouch..." You groan.

Snake looms over you, the bastard having the audacity to smirk at you. The last golden rays of sunshine fade behind him. "Looks like you haven't learned a thing." He extends his hand out.

"I've learned plenty I'm just... a bit rusty is all." You grab his hand, pulling yourself up. 

"I'm sure you have. Maybe next time." He brushes himself off, "By the way, there's a snowstorm coming through soon. So I'd stay safe out there."

"Really? Hm," You purse your lips in thought. "I could stay here for the night then."

"Oh."

Oh? Why did he say it like that?

"Unless, you don't want me to-"

"No."

"What?"

"No I," He looks away, "I'm just surprised." He coughs. "Uh, you can come inside."

Trudging through, you follow closely behind Snake as he leads you to the cabin door. He pushes it open, the inviting smell of wood and ash flooding your nostrils. You close the door behind you, taking off your jacket and hanging it on the coat hook. The living room was beside you, an ancient woven carpet beneath an even older looking table.  A sofa sat sung behind it, velvet and parts of fabric missing. It sat across from the fireplace, which from what you could tell, looked like it was used earlier.

"Nice place you got here..."

Snake made a noise of approval, but from the tone of your voice he could tell you weren't really, approving of it, to say the least. "You can sit down if you want."

Taking the invite, you kick off your shoes and run towards the sofa, plopping yourself down. It was surprisingly comfy despite it's looks.

"I'll get the fire going. Do you want anything to drink?" He asks as he fiddles with getting the flames to spark.

"A few cups of beer would be nice."

He chuckles at that. "Not surprised." 

"I need to relax, Dave."

"Yeah, after getting your butt kicked from me."

You scoff. "Shut up."

Finally, he got the flames going, the crackles of fire soothing your ears, a stark contrast to the howling winds of outside. As he left to go get drinks, you reminisced on old memories. You missed this. The back and forth banter, the talks that lasted way too damn late into the night, the occasional play fighting, you missed it all. But most of all, you missed him.

A part of you would never admit it, but you've fallen so hopelessly in love for him. It started out platonic, but as you grew closer and closer, you felt your feelings towards him shift. It's horrible, truly, and seeing him again like this? It just made things worse. Thoughts swam and zipped through your mind, the noise becoming a bustling city. A corner store of wholesome thoughts there, a corner store of thoughts-you-would-never-share-aloud-even-for-a-billion-dollars- there. You pinch the bridge of your nose to steady your thinking. 

Footsteps approach, and you notice Snake coming back. It looks like he already changed into something more comfy, wearing a simple white shirt a navy sweatpants. Beers in hand, he sits down next to you, the weight of the coach sinking along with him.

He offers you one. "Here."

"Thanks." You groggily answer, taking it from him. For a moment your fingers brush, and a cackle pops.

The sound of opening cans fill the room, you and Dave chatting with one another. Just like you used to. You drink a few more cans, but not enough for you to be completely drunk. Dave however seemed unbothered, despite already drinking four cans of it.

"So," Alcohol bubbling in your system. "You've meet any pretty ladies as of late."

"How recent are we talking?"

"Mmm like in the past few weeks, months."

"I have."

"Yeah?" A tad bit of jealousy bites at you. "Who's the lucky woman?"

"Well, it's you."

"Oh, stop it."

"I'm being serious."

He looked you dead in the eye, and you couldn't help but laugh. You knew he was being serious, but you just couldn't believe it.

"Haha! Very funny, Snake." 

"What about you, you've met anyone?"

"Hm." You ponder for a bit. "A few, but nothing ever serious. Or, lasting." With the last word, you look away. You could feel him still staring at you. Okay, new topic. 

"Um, anywho, where are your dogs at?"

"They're hanging out in their room. I didn't want them to bother us."

Us.

Not you. Us.

"I guess that's fair," feeling cold you move a bit closer to him, brushing against his thigh. "Wasn't much of a dog person anyway."

"Excatly why I kept them away."

You're not sure what gives you the courage. Maybe it's the alcohol running your adrenaline, or something else entirely, but you decide to push this a little further.

"Is that the only reason?" A little closer now.

"No, I have plenty other reasons why." A glance at your lips.

"Which are?" You drawl out your words.

"It has to do with a certain someone who's in my home."

"Hmm, and what else?" You place your drink on the table.

"And... how they're driving me just about crazy right now." He leans in. "Making my mind go wild."

"Care to explain those thoughts of yours?"

"I'd rather show."

Just like that he's on you. Ravaging every part of your lips, so expertly you can't help but deepen the kiss. His right hand travel to cup your cheek, while the other hold your waist. Gently, you're pushed down against the couch. Fuzzy warmth envelopes you all over, igniting a spark deep inside you.

Eventually, you have to break the kiss to breath, panting breaths mingling with each other. Oh, the way he was looking at you. Like he's been waiting for this for so long.

"Listen-" He panted, "-If if you don't want to do anything more we can just-"

"No."

"Huh?"

"Snake, I wanna spend the night with you."

By his gaze, you knew your words shift something inside of him. The fact that your words held merit, that you could do that to him, made you clench your thighs.

"Then the pleasure is all mine." He's back to kissing you, his hands wandering over your chest, thighs, arms, whatever he could lay his hands on. It's instinct, of course, when you hook your leg around his waist. You needed to be closer, but it wasn't enough.

Thankfully, Snake seems to sense your thinking, lifting up your shirt so he has more skin to access. Making quick work, he unclasps your bra and pulls down your pants, now resting at your calfs. He trails kisses down from your neck to your stomsch, and back again, each one becoming more desperate than the last.

"You're downright gorgeous." He mumured. "Fucking beautiful."

You whine at his praise, Snake smiling at the sound. Taking his fingers, he toys with the band of your underwear, before slipping them under. Two fingers enter you at once and you could hear the lewd sound of how wet you were. 

"Can't believe all this is for me." He breathes, picking up his pace. "How long have you wanted me like this? Huh?"

"Snake-"

He perks up at the name, thinking it sounds better than the one he was born with. "Say that again." He pushes his thumb against your bud, earning a delicious moan from you. You could feel pressure building within you. Rapidly coming closer and closer. What else could you do, but chant his name over and over?

Ripples crash through you, and you let out a silent scream. Snake keeps going in and out, riding your high, before removing his fingers and wiping your juices off. You see him pushing his band down, springing out his hard cock in all it's glory. Slowly, he pushes your panties to the side, lining up his dick to your cilt. Very, very gently he pushes in, letting you get used to the side. 

"That okay?" He asks, sounding like he's barely holding it together. You nod.

That's the only warning you get before he plunges in. And you just feel him around your walls, the lewd slapping of skin on skin filling the room. His grunts were in perfect sync with his rhythm, and you both ascended to nirvana together. Pure bliss.

Snake starts to blabber on, giving you praise and telling you how beautiful you were and what have you, causing your orgasm to build quickly. By the way he was stammering, you could tell he was close too.

"Where- argh fuck - where do you want me to-"

"Inside," You beg. "Please."

That pushes him to the brink. Earth shatters and you can feel him spasm inside you, filling you up with his seed. You're close behind, white starts filling your vision as you cry out. You both take a few beats to relax, taking a break from the high. Snake was still inside, laying his head on your chest, his arms embraced around you. Lazily, you run your fingers through his hair, smiling at how soft they were.

"Looks like we're staying warm tonight." You whisper. Already half asleep he just grunts, "You could say that again."

[vivalas-vega]

move on / jake ‘hangman’ seresin x reader / part two

I’m back !!! I took a little writing hiatus while I dealt w some personal stuff, hopefully not taking anymore writing breaks soon :) I decided I had more story to tell with these two -- lmk what you think!

move on / jake ‘hangman’ seresin x reader / part two

add yourself to my taglist

read part one

word count: 3.1k

warnings: some angst, some sadness, best friend rooster!!! (or maybe... 👀 hehe no I’m kidding, unless 👀) seriously we all deserve a roo in our lives. I’ve given reader a callsign in this one, meet birdy!!

The Hard Deck roared with life just as it usually did on a weekend, various Navy personnel and civilians alike celebrating the conclusion of another week but the chatter and music didn’t quite reach your ears as you sat sandwiched between Rooster and Bob nursing a lukewarm cider as your mind was somewhere entirely different. Somewhere softer and sweeter, a moment you had replayed probably a thousand times over the last two weeks. 

“Jake, I’m serious, cut it out!” you squealed, grabbing a pillow to defend yourself from his ruthless attacks but it was no use, it was tossed aside before you could even attempt to hit him as his fingers continued tickling into your sides and pulling giggles from your lips that were like music to his ears. They were so pure and unfiltered, a sound of amused joy though you were doing your best to convey otherwise. He finally rested, giving you a moment to catch your breath and he couldn’t help but chuckle as you immediately tensed below him feeling his hands snake across your waist to pull you closer.

“I come in peace, I promise.” he whispered into your hair, pressing kisses along your collarbone and you sighed in content. 

“You’re a pain in my ass,” your words were entirely convincing as he looked up to see the smile tugging at the corners of your mouth and you looked at him as if he’d hung all the stars in the sky.

“Yeah, but you love me anyways.” He continued kissing along the expanse of your exposed skin.

“Unfortunately.” Though it wasn’t unfortunate at all. He made his way up to your face, brushing your hair back that had been left awry after your unsuccessful attempts to squirm away from his attacks to lay kisses along your cheekbones.

“I love you too, Birdy.”

And then when you awoke, he was gone. No note, no trace, and your logical explanation had been he decided to hit the gym before meeting you on base. Something that happened so frequently you didn’t even question it as you went about your morning. Suspicion didn’t creep in until he wasn’t there in the locker room to greet you, no quip about you slacking on your workouts and leaving you in the dust, and certainly no teasing in your ear as you ran drills in the air all day. But this could be explained, right? When you arrived home and noticed that there were in fact some of his things missing, essential things like toothbrushes and his favorite tee shirts you thought something must have happened back home, an emergency that left him running to the airport without time to even wake you, he’d call you just as soon as he could to tell you everything… but that never came. So now here you were, two weeks later in the Hard Deck as you grappled with the fact that he wasn’t ever coming back. There was no explanation.

Rooster and Bob were having a silent conversation that you didn’t pick up on until suddenly Rooster’s hand on your knee broke you from your thoughts. “So uh, have you heard from Jake yet?” He grunted as Bob reached behind you to hit him in the arm, clearly that wasn’t what Bob had in mind when he encouraged him to engage you in some kind of conversation to get you out of your head… a place they both could only assume wasn’t really a good place to be right now.

“What do you think?” you replied, setting down your glass.

“I’m sorry.”

“No sense in apologizing for something you didn’t do, Rooster.” You got up rather suddenly, muttering something about the cider being useless as you went to seek out Penny at the bar who greeted you with a bright smile.

“Hey sweetheart, what can I get you?” 

“Something strong,” you sighed and she quickly rimmed a shot glass with salt before pouring top shelf tequila and topping it off with a lime wedge.

“Might as well be efficient, right?” You gave her a smile before throwing it back, welcoming the burn as it slid down your throat. The burn reminded you that you were in fact here and alive, and the alcohol coursing through your veins helped you return back to your old self even if only a little bit. Maverick watched with worry in his eyes, shooting Penny a look that she nodded away. Penny had been everything you needed her to be these last two weeks. She was no stranger to being left hanging by cocky flyboys, but what she wouldn’t tell you is what Jake had done far surpassed anything Maverick had ever pulled with her… at least Maverick would give her a heads up, even if only a brief email or phone call. This was something else entirely but she chose to ignore that, and showed up in all the right ways. She always poured exactly what you asked for, knowing the right moment to make you a mocktail with a drop of alcohol in the straw and she never asked you about anything you didn’t provide to her first. Everyone else walked on eggshells around you, not sure of how to act or what to say, and always somehow asked the wrong questions at the wrong times but you couldn’t even blame them. You knew they were trying their best and you don’t know what you would do if the roles were reversed. 

You returned to your friends, arranging the pool table for a new round and Coyote offered to play with you. You tried to hide your grimace, you felt bad for the cold shoulder you’d been giving him. It wasn’t Coyote’s fault, he was just as shocked as you had been but it didn’t change the fact that you knew he’d talked to him, knew where he was and maybe even knew the reason. They were facts that were difficult to reconcile but you gave him a forced smile anyways as Rooster made his way down to the bar to talk with Penny in hushed tones as he often found himself doing these days.

“I don’t want to hear it, Bradley, she’s fine.”

“She’s not fine, Penny. I’m honestly getting scared, she’s either here drinking herself half to death or she’s locked away in her room in the pitch black refusing to speak with anyone.”

“It’s been two weeks, she only really accepted things a few days ago. Give her time.” He looked over to see you lining up your shot as you leaned over the table, smiling as he saw a glimpse of the old you… someone so bright and vibrant, the life of every room you walked into, drawing people to you like moths to a flame. But it was extinguished just as soon as it appeared as you sank your ball and looked up to realize it wasn’t your usual opponent on the other side of the table.

“Cyclone and I talked about grounding her, she’s a risk to herself right now.”

“Do that and you might as well put the final nail in the coffin, Mav.” Penny said, sliding a glass down the bar and shaking her head as the two men looked at her horrified. “I’m serious. There were two things in this world that got Birdy out of bed: flying and Jake Seresin. She already lost one, don’t take away the other. Just give her time, things will turn around.”

But the thing was… they didn’t. Weeks turned into months and everyone watched as you became just a shell of the girl you once were, moments where your laughter would have rang out above everyone else’s were silent and bets amongst teammates were all but ignored. You were as good as you always were in the air, not wanting to give anyone any room to take something else away from you, though you were a little more ruthless. The first deployment had everyone on edge as you put yourself into danger within the first few minutes of the mission, pulling out unnecessary maneuvers that should have ended with you and your aircraft in a million little pieces, and you didn’t even get the reprimand everyone had been hoping for when you arrived back to base because it was that behavior that made the mission a success and you went without the reality check they desperately thought you needed. Nobody knew what to do, and even Penny had reached the point where she was starting to get a little concerned. At month seven there was a knock on your door in the late evening hours that quickened your pace and got your hopes up though logically you knew you would only be disappointed when you opened the door to reveal Rooster.

You wordlessly stepped aside to allow him in as you resumed your previous position on the couch. There was a glass of water in front of you and nothing playing on the TV and Rooster had to take a deep breath to calm his reaction to seeing you this way. He set a beer in front of you and flicked on ESPN to watch game highlights just as the two of you had done every night the last few months. Rooster was at a loss and was showing up in the only way he knew how to. His heart was completely broken seeing you this way, his best friend he once considered the strongest person he had ever met so thoroughly broken by Jake Seresin. It filled him with anger and made him sick to his stomach but he would never show you that. He would wait until you finished your beer, taking the empty bottle to the kitchen and turning off the TV and all of the lights, gently pulling you up and down the hall where the two of you would brush your teeth in your bathroom before he would help you into bed and take up his spot on the couch. Tonight was different though.

“Roo?” It was the first word you’d spoken since he arrived an hour ago and at first he thought he was imagining it as he pulled the covers over you but he knew he wasn’t once he saw you looking up expectantly at him.

“Yeah, Birdy?” 

“Can you uh… I’m sorry, nevermind.” You shook your head as you went to settle in but he placed a hand over yours, eager to do whatever it was you were about to ask of him. You hadn’t asked him or anyone else for anything since Jake had left and he was ready to chip away at this crack you had revealed to him.

“Come on, what is it?” he asked gently and when you looked back to him he could see the fine mist coating your eyes and sending pangs through his heart.

“Can you stay? I haven’t- I can’t sleep and I just… I really want to sleep.” Your voice broke on the last word and before his brain could fully catch up he was kicking off his jeans and sliding into the other side of the bed, careful to keep enough distance to not spook you but that was thrown to the wind when you reached for him. He was quick to pull you into his side and hold you as close as he could. You had dodged everyone's attempts at physical contact with you and he silently wondered when the last time you had this kind of comfort was. The realization it was likely the last night Jake was in this bed with you had him squeezing tighter. You wrapped an arm around him and nuzzled into his chest when he heard it, the sniffles you were trying to conceal.

“Birdy, please talk to me,” he whispered as he pressed a kiss to your forehead, “come on, you can’t keep bottling this up.” 

“That last night was perfect.” you said, and he stayed silent, deciding to let you get it out at your own pace and in your own time. “We spent the night with you guys at the bar, we came home and made terrible microwave nachos, and then we stumbled to bed and had sex, honestly really bad drunk giggly sex but that’s what made it good, and then we stayed up talking about nothing in particular. He told me he loved me and we fell asleep and then just like that he was gone. I mean, how do you go from that to vanishing into thin air?” You had never told anyone this, what happened that night when you two left had been a silent question of the entire group but no one wanted to ask you. Because you were right, the night had been perfect. Everyone had an amazing time at the bar and when you yelled out that you wanted nachos Jake was quick to sweep you off your feet and get you home so you could have them. Watching you leave they all thought to themselves they wanted something like that, they wanted the kind of love that flowed so generously between the two of you. 

“I wish I could tell you, Birdy.” he sighed, rubbing reassuring circles into your waist as your fist balled up the fabric of his shirt. He felt your frame begin to shake as you finally let out what you had been holding in this whole time, sobs wracking your body and Rooster just held on tight, whispering reassurances in your ear and telling you to let it all go. 

“I just don’t know why I wasn’t enough to make him stay,” you whimpered and Rooster’s heart cracked wide open. He shifted, sitting up slightly and pulling you with him as cradled your face and wiped the tears that showed no signs of stopping.

“No. Birdy, you are enough. You are everything and if he didn’t see that it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with him. This is not your failure, it’s his.” 

You shook your head, “I just… I keep replaying all these moments, trying to pinpoint where it went wrong, when he made his decision and I can’t- I can’t find it. There are supposed to be warning signs, it just doesn’t make sense.” Another sob overtook you and Rooster pulled you back in, letting you drape your weight across him and wishing he could do more. He adjusted the both of you back into a lying position and enveloped you in his arms, and when your sobs quieted and your breathing evened out he carefully snagged his phone from the nightstand and texted Maverick, telling him he finally got through and the two of you wouldn’t be on base tomorrow, he wanted to make sure you had plenty of time to catch up on sleep. 

Things did finally start getting better. Rooster took a mile with the inch you gave him and you spent your nights wrapped up under covers with him as you finally let him in and the days held glimpses of your old self. Smiles became more genuine, you weren’t as reckless in the air, and you even laughed at Fanboy’s dumb jokes once in a while. It wasn’t perfect, not by a longshot. Rooster held you tight each and every night so you could finally get the first peaceful sleep you’ve had in months, gently shaking you awake when a nightmare rattled your frame but night by night it got better. He eventually returned to his place on the couch, and then one day something changed and you didn’t need him in the house at all. Everyone knew you were still healing, still recovering but you had turned the corner. 

And when Jake suddenly reappeared at the Hard Deck just as suddenly as he had left you took it in stride. Everyone subtly watched as your two figures sat on the beach just beyond the window and waited for you to break, but that moment never came. When you returned and took Rooster’s beer from his hand they thought you would be angry, maybe at least cry, but you didn’t. You went right back to heckling Pheonix at the pool table as if it had never happened, but Rooster knew. When he drove you back to your place he sensed the silent turmoil waging a war on your mind, and walking into the foyer of your home you didn’t even need to ask. He followed you down the hall, where the pair of you settled into bed and you crawled into the arms that had grown to feel like a second home to you. 

“He said he was sorry,” you finally said, breaking the silence. 

“Do you believe him?”

You shrugged against him, “I don’t know. He said he still loves me.”

“Did he say why he left?”

“I didn’t ask.” You nuzzled your face further into his chest, eyes growing heavy as he rubbed your back.

“I’m really proud of you, Birdy.” You looked up at this, giving him a soft smile as he looked down at you.

“I don’t know if I’ve told you this or not, but thank you.”

“What for?” He raised an eyebrow at you.

“For this. For being here, for giving up several months of your life to constantly be here.”

“Nowhere else I’d be, Birdy.” You laid your head back down and absentmindedly rubbed your thumb along his chest.

“I promise you one day you won’t have to sleep at my place.”

“I mean it, Birdy, there’s nowhere else for me to be until you don’t need me here.”

“You’re my best friend, you know that?” 

“I’d sure hope so,” he chuckled and you laughed with him. “What are you going to do?”

“There’s not much I can do. He’s restationed with us so… I guess figure out how to coexist. I just… I don’t get it. He leaves, I don’t hear from him for a year, then he just shows up saying he’s back and that he still loves me.”

You felt him shake his head above you, “I don’t get it either, and don’t hurt me for saying this but I think you should talk to him.”

“Seriously? What happened to all that ‘him leaving is explanation enough and you don’t need him’ shit you’ve been telling me?”

“Seriously. I know you, Birdy, you can’t be around him without getting to the bottom of it. If you don’t ask him why he left, all the progress you’ve made the last few months is going to go out the window.” 

You sighed, “I know.”

“Plus, I’m fully invested right now, I also need to know.” he teased and you playfully swatted his chest.

“Go to sleep before I push you off this bed, Bradshaw.” you laughed. 

“Goodnight, Birdy.”

[beaker1636]

A Love Reunited - Ricky Smut/Fluff

A/N: I don’t know why my mind went towards a sappy fluffy cute smut but it did so hopefully you enjoy this anon! I didn’t edit this so they’re maybe some typos, also I upload via mobile so if the formatting is ever off I am sorry! Enjoy!

Edit: for some reason tumblr won’t let me add the imagine below the photo so it’s all wonky. Sorry!

Sighing you clock out at work and make your way out the door, extra glad it is finally the weekend after a long week, but also a little disappointed to be making your way home to your apartment alone. Your boyfriend Ricky is away on tour and unfortunately there is still about a week left before he can be home.

You decide to send him a quick message before you start the drive home, letting him know that you are thinking of him and miss him.

When you pull into your driveway you notice that you have a message so you take your phone out as you walk towards your front door.

“Good thing we got home early then,” you read.

You quickly unlock your front door when you got the message, looking up to immediately gasp. Wasting no time you make your way to where he sits on your couch, sit down on his lap facing him and bury your face in his neck. His arms snake around you, holding you to him tightly as you both sit there in the silence for a couple minutes to embrace and take comfort in being together again.

“Something came up and the tour ended a week early, so I decided to surprise you after work today,” he says softly in your ear, not wanting to let go of you as the two months you were apart has taken a toll on not just you but him as well.

“I missed you so much,” you mumble, trying not to embarrass yourself by happy crying.

The timer in the oven goes off, forcing you to separate from eachother.

“Go sit at the table, I will have dinner out for us in a minute,” he says kissing your forehead as he slips by you and into your kitchen.

You make your way to the dining room table ad smile when you see that there is a beautiful bouquet of flowers itting on it, and candles are lit around the room giving a romantic feel towards the meal, which melts your heart at the effort that he made to do something for you despite the fact you know he must be tired from the tour.

Rick comes out with your plates and then heads back into the kitchen to grab you both a couple of glasses of wine before he takes a seat next to you at the table.

“You didn’t have to do all of this for me, I know you must be exhausted after such a long tour,” you say as you start to eat the wonderful meal that he has cooked.

“I wanted to do something nice for you when I got back because this was the first tour we’ve been through together and I know it is a lot for you as well. I figured we have a nice at home date tonight and then we can spend the weekend being lazy and lying around together. After your week you probably need it too,” he responds back, reaching over to lightly squeeze your thigh under the table.

The two of you continue to eat, Rick telling you all about the fun and weird moments of the tour. Most of this he has already told you during your facetime chats but you still gladly listen to him as its been so long since you have heard him talk in person.

When you both finish eating you move closer to him so that you can give him a kiss, giggling when he pulls you out of your chair and onto his lap, not expecting the sudden playful moment.

“I’m so glad you are home, I missed you so much. I know you would never do anything but just knowing you meet so many fans makes me anxious, you never know what they could do or if you would meet someone better,” you admit shyly as you start to lightly play with his hair, loving the silky feel of it in your hands.

“Baby, listen to me. I don’t want anyone else. Noone comes close to you or how I feel about you,” he brushes your cheek with his thumb, which makes you look at him and making eye contact.

He leans down to gently kiss you again, but this time feels a lot different than any the two of you have ever shared with eachother. You can’t place why but you don’t question it, quickly giving in to the feeling and losing all sense of what is happening around you.

You can feel him smile in the kiss which makes you smile as well. Lightly Rick tugs on your lip with his teeth, your tongues lazily meeting. You can’t help but love how soft and gentle everything is right now. These slow sweet moments together are rare and you haven’t been able to have on in awhile.

His hands trail down your sides before landing on our ass and resting there for a moment before he pulls his lips away from yours just slightly.

“Why don’t we move this to our bed? You can show me how much you missed me,” he whispers, his breath ghosts across your lips making you shudder.

Rather than answering you get up off his lap and grab his hand, leading him out of the dining room and to your bedroom.

Both of you lay down on your sides facing eachother, lips quickly colliding with eachothers again only this time is more heated, both of you getting needy for contact that you have been missing.

One of his hands is resting on your hip as the other is in your hair, holding you closely to him. Slowly he pushs on you, letting you know that he wants you to lay down on your back which you happily do.

His hands teasingly rub the skin of your stomach which is now exposed from your shirt riding up slightly. Trailing his hands softly up your torso until they make their way back down towards the hem of your shirt, which he grabs and slides off of you, your bra quickly going with it while you blush.

The two of you have only been together like this a handful of times before he had to leave for the tour, so despite wanting it you still can’t help but feel shy when he looks at your body.

He gives you another quick soft kiss that is over before you can register that it had begun before they lightly start to ghost from your ear down to your throat. At the same time one of his hands moves to cup a breast, lightly kneading it before starting to roll your nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Even after all this time he still takes satisfaction in teasing you.

He know that he finds your sensitive spot on your throat when you gasp and tilt your head allowing him more access to continue leaving marks along the path, because you know that he has to be at that point.

Reaching inbetween the both of you you decide to unbutton his jeans, sliding them down slightly along with his boxers.

He adjusts so that he can kick his them off the rest of the way before his lips slowly start to trail down your chest, continuing to leave marks as you reach down to slowly stroke him, wanting to drive him crazy and tease him as much as he was doing to you. You know you succeeded when he lets out a barely audible groan which makes you giggle.

His lips wrap around one of your nipples, making you gasp and shift at the sensitive feeling, your jeans feeling a bit too constricting now.

He notices you shift and moves to unbutton them, pulling away from you slightly so that you can lift your hip, allowing him to remove them as well as your panties in one quick motion before sitting at your side. He reaches over you so that he can rub your clit but you grab his wrist and stop him.

“No, I-I just want to feel you tonight, please?” you beg, craving the closeness and the connection that you have been lacking out on with him.

His shifts so that he is leaning over the top of you again, his lips finding yours gently as he teases you slightly with the tip against your clit. When you give him an annoyed grunt he finally gives in and slips inside of you, both of you letting out a groan at the sudden feeling of pleasure that is coursing through you.

Hi thrusts get a little bit harder as he goes but he doesn’t get anywhere near as rough with you as he always has in the past. He wants to savor this moment with you and enjoy this feeling. He also feels the change between this act and the other times the two of you have been together.

Pulling away he locks his eyes with you as his hands find their way to your waist, flipping the two of you so that you are now on top.

“Ride me baby, fuck just like that,” he groans as you begin to rock your hips against his, you being inpatient and going a bit quicker than he was when he was on top and leading the two of you.

Knowing that he won’t last long himself after not getting any for a few month he reaches between the two of you, starting to toy with your clit which makes you look away from him, arching your back at the level it adds to everything.

He can feel you starting to clench around him, hear you letting out breathy moans that let him know that you are getting quick and when you do cum rather abruptly he is right behind you, spilling inside of you a couple seconds later.

When you come down you share a couple lazy kisses before you finally pull yourself off him and go to your bathroom to quickly clean yourself up.

When you return you quickly put your pajamas on, and notice that he has slipped into his boxers and is laying on your bed waiting for you to join him. You do so, laying your head on his chest and wrapping an arm around him while he begins to lightly run a hand along your back. Both of you sit there quietly, processing what has changed between the two of you but not wanting to be the one to break the silence.

A few moments later Rick decides to be the one to break it, “Being away from you like this for so long made me realize something… well that and one of Chris’ weird peptalks helped me figure it out too,” Rick says softly, still rubbing your back softly.

You move so that you are looking up at him,” Hmm?” you ask.

“This is probably not the best time to say it, and totally is not what I planned to do but I want to say it. I love you, more than that I’m in love with you. I’ve never mised someone so much while gone, or worried about a girlfriend like this,” he slowly stops talking when he realises he is rambling.

“Rick, I love you too. I just was too nervous to say it and freaked out thinking it would freak you out saying it only four months into our relations,” you admit and then before giving him a second kiss lightly.

Suddenly realization hits you and you pull away with a weird look on your face.

“Wait, you confided in this with my brother before you did me? No wonder he has been really weird lately when we’ve talked and asking how things are going with you,” you say giggling slightly.

You lay back down, curling up in his side again, content to just stay like that the rest of the night.

“He confronted me about it, I will explain later, lets just go to bed,” he says, sounding annoyed.

You decide to just let the subject go but totally plan to ask him about it in the morning curious on what that could have meant.

The two of you continue to catch up on everything you haven’t had a chance to with one another before you finally start to fall asleep, feeling loved and cared for, more content in your relationship than ever.

[tracingpatternswrites]

Tuesday snip snip

Thanks for the tag @heartofspells. Have another little something from my current wip.

A little sneak peak at my Wolfstar Muggle AU The patchwork of us.

“I hope you’re hungry,” James told them as they stepped into the kitchen, a wide grin on his face as he turned around.

His face was a little flushed, his hair the same ridiculous mess as always, and his glasses had gone a bit foggy from where his head had been bent over the pot he was stirring. He looked as effortlessly happy as always as he spread his arms. “Come here, you know the rules.”

Teddy gave a dramatic little sigh as he walked over to give him a hug, but despite his grumblings, Sirius could see the pleased little flush on his face as James released him again.

“Where’s Harry?” the boy asked and James nodded towards the stairs.

“In his room. You better head up there, I think he’s got something to show you.”

Teddy muttered a thanks before scampering off, clearly not needing to think twice about choosing to spend time with his older, cooler cousin rather than two boring old men.

“What, no hug for me?” Sirius questioned as James returned to the stove and the other man barked out a laugh.

“Get me a beer and I’ll think about it.”

“You wouldn’t know I was a guest in this house,” Sirius grumbled as he made his way to the fridge, pulling out two bottles. “Treated like a damn servant.”

“That’s because you’re not a guest in this house,” James said, smiling sweetly Sirius pulled a face at him. “This was as much your home as mine when we were kids.”

“Did you want this or not?” Sirius asked as he waved the beer in front of James’ face, snatching it out of reach as he tried to grab it.

He saw James’ eyes flash behind his glasses before he found himself trapped, James’ arms snaking around his waist to hug him close, squeezing hard enough to make Sirius flail and wheeze.

“Welcome, darling brother, I’m honoured to have you visit our humble abode.”

“Wanker,” Sirius complained as he was released, but he couldn’t help the smile tugging at his mouth, and he saw it reflected on James’ face as he grabbed the beer. “So where’s Lils at tonight then?”

“Out,” James replied with a shrug. “Girl’s night or whatever, I don’t know, to be honest I was a bit scared to ask when Mary came to pick her up. Grab the peppers, will you?”

Sirius handed him the chopped vegetables, watching as James dumped them into the pot.

“You still coming to Teddy’s game this weekend?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” James assured him with a smile. “Harry and Lily too.”

“Great, he’d like that.”

“How’s he holding up?” James asked in a low voice, glancing towards the stairs, eyebrows raised behind his glasses.

Sirius mulled the question over for a while as he started to set the table for the four of them, taking a moment before he replied.

“Surprisingly well,” he offered after a while. “He’s got good days and bad days, we both do, but he’s doing okay all things considering.”

“And the whole thing with–“ James waved a hand in front of himself “–with Remus?”

“Don’t get me started,” Sirius sighed with a grimace before taking another swig from the bottle. “Came to pick him up this morning, took him to breakfast…I dunno, he’s just weird.”

James hummed at the stew, “Weird how?”

“I don’t know, just weird,” Sirius said with a shrug, brows pulling together into a scowl. “Just weird. He always was, even at school. Just weird.”

“Harsh Pads,” James admonished, a disapproving curl to his mouth. “You barely said a word to him back then.”

“Yeah, well, maybe because he was a little weirdo,” Sirius muttered, glowering at his drink.

“He was not,” James replied firmly. “You just think he was because you’re angry with him for what he did to Dora.”

Sirius didn’t reply at first, because James was right (of course he was, the wanker). Truth was that he barely remembered Remus from school. He remembered a thin, pale and quiet boy who barely said a word to anyone, who kept to himself and sometimes was gone for days at a time before showing back up with no explanation.

“So what?” he conceded eventually. “D’you think what he did was good?”

“Course I don’t think it was good,” James said patiently, because James Potter was some sort of saint who never lost his temper, which drove Sirius mad at times. “All I’m saying is that you don’t know him, and at least he’s trying, right? He seems to be serious about Teddy.”

“The only one who’s Sirius is me,” he quipped, but he sobered as James threw him a look. “Fuck if I know what he wants but I don’t trust him. What’s to say that he doesn’t take off again, first chance he gets? Or maybe it’s the money. I don’t mean to be crass but Teddy’s well off with his inheritance, not to mention he’ll get my money if something were to happen to me and in case you didn’t know, I’m absolutely minted.”

 James snorted, tasting the stew he was making before adding another pinch of salt.

“Maybe he wants to make amends,” suggested James as he filled a separate pot with water. “Maybe he regrets leaving and sees this as a second chance and he’s truly committed to being a part of Teddy’s life.”

“Make amends,” mimicked Sirius with a grimace, finishing his beer before getting a new one for himself and for James. “The fuck does that even mean.”

Sirius could see James suppressing a smile and he just about managed to stop himself from throwing a piece of bread at the other man’s head.

“It means maybe he wants to make things right,” James continued, unperturbed, as he dumped way too much pasta into the boiling water. “Maybe he feels shitty about leaving all those years ago and he figures this is his chance to set things right.”

Sirius watched him, a frown tugging at his brows.

“Doesn’t it ever get tiresome?”

“What?” James asked as he turned around, leaning casually against the counter as he took a swig from his new beer.

“Being such a sanctimonious shit,” Sirius offered, but James merely laughed at him and Sirius knew that his words lacked the bite anyway.

“You should try it sometimes,” James said with a wink. “Go get the kids, dinner’s ready.”

[redflagromance]

Short Story Release: An Unexpected Party (Aster Black Story: 4,914 words)

Aster grunted with effort, readjusting their grip on the brown paper bags of groceries that were going to get them through the weekend with panache. Their arms trembled. They could feel the cold where the glass bottle of milk was pressed up against their stomach. Aster huffed visible clouds into the air and swung their head to try to dislodge the streams of sweat on their forehead.

As always, there was a line snaking around the club on the other side of the street. Distant conversations and shrieking laughter blended into background sound. Music with a thumping baseline spilled out as Aster came onto the home stretch, crumbling brownstone apartment stairs in sight. A gust of wind carried the stink of cigarettes directly into their face from across the street.

Aster tried to blink away the sting, wishing that they had a hand free. The watering in their eyes made what was waiting in front of their apartment even more disorienting than it had to be.

The disco ball-like reflection of mylar balloons bobbing gently under the streetlight drew Aster’s attention. They squinted to read the print on a balloon but it spun in the air to reveal only silver backing. The warm light from the streetlight bounced off of the tiny wrinkles and reflective polyester to create a moving silver and gold kaleidoscope in the air.

They were tied to the side mirror of an orange van parked on the street. Three men were waiting there, a driver and two men leaning against the van.  One of them was holding an explosive bouquet of yellow and red flowers in his right hand. The other man was holding what looked like a box against his chest with one arm. The driver’s face was hidden in shadows, but Aster could see the outline of their jaw.

‘It looks like someone is having a great night. Good for them.’

They stole another glance up at the balloons, fighting the childish urge to touch them. Aside from the three mylar balloons, there was a positive riot of yellow, red, and blue latex balloons. Aster had the phantom taste of birthday cake in their mouth when the party guests seemed to notice them.

“Hello!” The man with the cheerful flowers waved with their free hand. “Haven’t seen you in a while. How’ve you been doing?” They kicked up off of the van to stand straight. He had a memorable voice, scratchy and low.

Aster couldn’t tell if they knew them in the dark. Which was awkward. “Hello,” they greeted the men, “I’m doing well! Having a party?” Aster coughed again and tried to wave away the cigarette smoke from the club.

Flower Man beamed a smile back and moved a little closer. Their braces glinted. “A surprise party! We’re just lying in wait for the guest.”

“It’s going to be a great time,” added Box Guy, a little less enthusiastically. His eyes were obviously tracking Aster as they walked closer. He pulled a party popper out of the box and gave Aster a conspiratorial look, before dropping it back into the box.

Neither of their voices was familiar, at least.

“Wow, that’s exciting!” Aster peered at the balloons, contorting their left elbow up to their face to block their coughing. One of the paper bags shifted and nearly fell. Their eyes were starting to tear up a bit, but Aster could see that most of them didn’t have any print. “What’s the occasion?” They were starting to feel a little awkward. They wished that they hadn’t stopped to talk.

“New job.” The Box Guy still leaning against the van laughed. His companion looked back with a stern face. The man just smirked. His face still didn’t look familiar. Why had he greeted Aster that way, so loudly?

‘Maybe they’re friends with that new neighbor? I did meet quite a few people at their housewarming party last month.’ Aster rationalized.

“Wonderful, hope you both have a great night!” Aster awkwardly dug out their building key without dropping the bags clutched to their chest. They turned right to take the steps up to their apartment. They were on the top step when the club music paused for a second and Aster heard footsteps.

A chill ran up their neck. That was-

“Surprise,” a man’s voice murmured from right behind Aster.

The strangest thing was pressed up against their back. Aster felt a cold, metal circle surrounded by the straight lines of… the box that the man had been holding?

Aster froze.

‘Is someone shoving a gun in my back? He had a gun in that box of party supplies?’

They waited for a breathless moment for the other person to say something- hopefully ‘whoops’, and to carry on.

Instead, there was the heat of someone breathing on their neck.

‘Why does he have a gun?’

“Let’s go for a drive,” he said in a calm, reasonable tone.

Aster did not want to get into their party van. “My wallet and keys are in my pockets.” Aster said quickly, hoping against hope that that was all they wanted. Maybe whoever it was would go away if they got money. “I don’t have any jewelry on me.”

The gunman sighed, low and disappointed. “Party plan it is.”

Flower Man laughed out cheerfully and shouted, “Surprise!” He grabbed them from behind and lifted Aster straight off of the ground. Aster shrieked in surprise and tried to claw away the bouquet, which was now scratching up against their face. The grocery bags were so heavy that Aster couldn’t push the flowers away. They were just about to drop the bags when someone wrenched the paper bags out of their hands.

“My eggs!” Aster cried, watching as the carton threatened to fall. Box Guy caught the eggs with a grunt and shoved his way past them up the stairs. He turned to wait expectantly.

The heat of a large hand slipped into their back pocket. Aster tried to wrench around to see but the arm snaked around Aster’s waist was tight. There was a tinkling of metal as Aster’s keys were lifted out of their jeans pocket.

“Stop it!” Aster scrambled desperately to get their feet on the ground, but it was no use. The world turned around them as Flower Guy turned and jogged down the steps toward the van. Their stomach swooped nauseatingly with each bounce.

The van engine started up. There was the click of a lock. They were headed toward the back door of the van.

They swung their head around- the club was just down the block, surely someone would have seen. “Help!” Aster screamed. They struggled, kicking at the man holding them prisoner.

“It’s my friend Zair’s engagement party!” someone shouted at the clubbers. It must have been the driver. “Take a balloon! They’re getting married!”

The people outside smoking and talking stopped, and a chorus of whooping began to fill the evening air. A girl sprinted across the street to the front of the van for her balloon. After a moment a few cheering partygoers joined her.

‘The fuck?’

Aster was taken aback as they were being taken back towards the street. It took a few precious seconds for them to comprehend what was happening, by which time they were probably almost at the curb.

The double doors at the back creaked as they swung open.

Aster shrieked. “No! Let me go! Let me GO!” The people outside of the club continued to whoop and whistle.

“Good luck!” A drunk girl slurred, hoisting her balloon high. “Have good party!”

“Don’t let them take me!” Aster pleaded, kicking into the air like that might make the ground closer. “I don’t know these people! Call the police!” They craned to see the driver as he gave Aster a shitty look, laughed loudly, and threw up a fist. “Police, police, police!” He chanted.

And it worked. The drunks around the car started joining in, calling for the police cheerfully.

Why.

The driver winked at Aster and untied a balloon to give away.

“What is happening?” Aster sobbed.

Flower Guy shoved them into the back of the van, chanting cheerfully for the police. Aster caught themselves with their hands and pushed back up, scrabbling to get out before the doors closed.

It happened too fast. The door slammed shut. Aster was in the dark.

Aster stood, staring dumbly at the pitch black space where they knew the door was. This couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be happening. A minute ago, Aster had been walking home.

The van honked the horn. “Party bus is leaving, say bye bye!” the driver’s muffled voice called out. Partygoer voices chimed in with a chorus of farewells to Aster, off to god knows what grim fate.

The situation didn’t feel real.

The van started moving. Without any ability to see or brace for the movement, Aster slammed face forward into the metal with a thunk and an explosion of pain.

They struggled to a seated position, clutching their forehead with one hand and using the other to brace against the corrugated floor.

The sounds of the cheerful drunks faded away. Aster heard their own shallow breaths. Aster heard the engine. After a minute, faint conversation started up from the front seat.

Bang.

Aster startled, letting out a shout.

The men in the front laughed.

‘One of them hit the back of the cab,’ Aster realized. They swallowed. ‘That’s all.’

The air was stifling. It pressed in on Aster from all directions, stale and warm. They ought to have been a little hot, but they felt cold and disgusting. Their clothes and hair were still a little damp with sweat from their walk home.

Slowly, Aster drew their feet up into a protective posture. It took a while of gingerly scooting to place their back against the wall. Then Aster carefully wrapped their shaking arms around their knees and tried to think of a way out of this.

Realistically, the situation could be better. Getting taken into a vehicle was the worst case scenario because it was impossible to guess how far away they would wind up. But this was hardly Aster’s first time being kidnapped. They’d learned about this. They knew how to survive a kidnapping, Aster reminded themself. They drew in a shuddering breath and pressed their forehead to their knees.

The van turned to the right. Aster’s stomach swooped unpleasantly along with the motion.

It was hard, but they forced their breathing to slow down.

‘That felt like a couple of minutes before the turn. We’re probably on the next major road,’ Aster guessed. They licked their lips, suddenly aware of how dry they were.

No more fighting and no more yelling. Now that they had actually been overpowered and taken away, the best chance for survival was to be compliant and make the kidnappers empathize with them. That meant no anger, no hysterics, no behavior that would be annoying.

Tears welled up. Aster blinked them away furiously and sniffled, trying to reach a physical state of calm.

This was bad. It was really fucking bad. But it probably wasn’t personal. It was probably about money.

‘No one who knew about my professional connections would risk kidnapping me,’ Aster thought, a little ruefully. They’d felt so safe. The risk-reward calculation just wouldn’t balance. Barry wasn’t a villain, by any means, but anyone who was anyone knew that he wasn’t someone to mess with. And Aster, without their family name, was just a small business owner and artist. They liked their life and their job. It was fulfilling. But there was no real material benefit to kidnapping a florist.

Therefore, this was the same old problem. Someone wanted money from their family, and Aster was the easiest person to grab.

‘It figures,’ they thought wearily. ‘No security team, no gated community, no dorm cameras.’

They’d been foolish. They’d made it too easy, been complacent.

The party theme of the kidnapping, though… It didn’t sit right with them. Aster shifted uncomfortably against the bare wall of the van’s siding.

It was awfully whimsical for a bog-standard kidnapping. They could admit that it was even pretty clever. The assault had probably looked like friends playing around. How many times had Aster seen someone lift up a protesting friend and haul them around? You’d see that at least once an hour at a public pool.

But it had to be a financially motivated kidnapping. It had to be. They’d ignored Aster when they offered money, but that was probably because they were too cautious to get dragged into negotiations on a doorstep when anyone could walk by.

Aster really wanted to believe that theory. But the doubt grew as the van took a turn to the left, as it stopped, as it started up again and went around what seemed to be a sharp turn and climbed up.

The van turned, what felt like a loop. It went and went and went until finally it stopped, reversed, and came to a stop. The engine shut off.

Aster swallowed. This might be showtime. They sat up a little straighter and unwound their arms from around their legs.

Gravel crunched outside as someone walked around the van.

Their heart rate picked up. Aster dug their fingertips into the floor a little bit for stability.

The doors were yanked open. Flower Guy and Box Man stood there, backlit by the faint glow of cheap overhead lights across what seemed to be a deserted parking lot. Flower Guy had a party kazoo in his mouth.

Aster forced a trembling smile onto their face.

“You’re the guest of honor,” Box Man explained. He seemed proud of their ruse. He shifted his weight as he grinned down at Aster.

“That was funny,” Aster agreed.

“Very funny,” Box Man said decisively. He cracked his neck. “You’re going to stay here for the night, but you do have to come with us to work in the morning. So you’ll need a coat. We got one from your place.”

Aster watched in confusion as the sweatshirt they’d worn to the gym yesterday was tossed into the back of the van. “Thanks,” they said, a bit delayed.

Box Man shot them a thumbs up. “No problem, what are friends for. Anyway, any food allergies or dietary restrictions?”

That was good news. The smile that Aster gave them was a lot more genuine now. Feeding Aster strongly implied that they didn’t intend to kill Aster. Not yet, at least. “I can eat anything but… maybe not dairy,” they said weakly, thinking about how unpleasant that might be in an enclosed space with no bathroom. “Uh. Is there a restroom I can use?”

“Yeah.” Box Guy pointed over his shoulder with a thumb. “Port a potty. I’ll take you over in a minute, and he’ll get you some Mediterranean chicken along with a nice wild rice salad, and this beautiful little apple tart.” He pursed his lips in thought. “I think that’s all. Happy kidnapping!”

Flower Guy blew the kazoo.

The goons bustled in and out making a weird little nest for Aster from a few blankets, a pillow, and a folded mattress. Really? They were going to leave Aster in here? No. They couldn’t. Wouldn’t Aster overheat, run out of air? Aster waited to be moved to a building, to be told something. But the doors closed and they were left alone in the parked van.

The van didn’t get hot. It didn’t feel stifled, either. Eventually even anxiety ran out. Aster found it harder and harder to stay awake.

There was no way to gauge the time. It had been late when they were taken, so it made sense that Aster was getting tired.

Aster roused when the engine of another car approached. Aster leaned towards the source of the noise, straining to hear anything that might be useful.

The car turned off and a door opened and closed. There was a conversation, but Aster couldn’t make out much for words. Then another door opened and closed.

A few moments later, there was a muffled voice. Low.

The voice that answered, on the other hand, was higher pitched and much clearer. Something about it instantly prickled at Aster’s subconscious as relevant.

‘That voice sounds familiar.’

Some car doors slammed shut, and a louder car started up and pulled away. Footsteps approached the van, but no one said anything. Aster braced for the door to open. This was it. They were going to have their chance to talk their way out of this mess. Aster swallowed hard, heart somehow racing all the way up in their throat.

There was the electronic buzz of someone’s phone, and then footsteps away.

"Just get here. What?" There was a pause. The voice became incredulous. "Take a bus."

Aster strained to hear their kidnapper outside. The thud of their heartbeat made it hard to hear.

‘This person sounds so familiar. Where do I know them? It’s not Harmes. Definitely not Barry. Obviously this isn’t my Mom. So why do I know their voice, and why can’t I place it?’

"Don't you have your company issued laser?" the voice scoffed.

‘What kind of company issues lasers?’ Aster panicked. ‘A security company? Are they professionals?’

"City bus-" There was a flurry of annoyed finger snapping. "You have a gun! The bus route is wherever you tell the driver to go!" Heels clicked against cement.

The finger snapping startled Aster to attention, and their hindbrain perked up. That was a distinctive tic. They knew who did that.

Aster leaned against the wall, reeling in surprise.

No wonder the voice outside the darkened van was familiar. Aster had heard it on the phone only yesterday, requesting that their floral shop provide cold proofed roses for the Vice President’s birthday party. She knew damn well Aster was locked into a contract.

Sunny Aviichen’s pitch rose. “What do you mean a little old lady needs to get off in Newark?”

Aster swallowed an inappropriate giggle. Their heart rate was up through the roof and sweat was starting to form in their hair. It prickled uncomfortably.

'I guess that call was my last chance to break my exclusivity contract,' Aster thought, shock isolating them from the situation. How was this real? They let out a long, slow breath, trying to force their heart rate to slow. Being panicked wasn’t likely to help them right now. They’d just start to hyperventilate in a parked van.  ‘I didn’t realize that the situation was that serious. I know other good florists, I could have introduced her.’

In their gut, they knew that wouldn’t have satisfied Sunny. She wanted Aster- not because Aster was a great florist, which they were!- but because they worked with Harmes.

Whatever beef they had with Harmes ran deep, strong, and was solely one directional. Harmes never even seemed to remember Sunny’s name.

“She can't walk?- you'renot killing the driver. He can just go back and drop her off when you're done.” Footsteps clacked angrily outside.

The fact that Sunny didn’t seem to expect her employee to gun down a bus driver was reassuring. It wasn’t a perfect guarantee of Aster’s safety, but it did imply that Sunny wasn’t overly violent.

‘That could change if she realizes that I can hear and recognize her,’ Aster thought. They shifted uncomfortably, trying to find a better position and distract from the queasy feeling in their stomach. It was easy to resolve to play dumb. They wanted to go home with all the phalanges they started with.

‘Please let that work.’

Aster wouldn’t complain at all if Sunny Aviichen thought Aster’s head was empty.

It sounded like Ms. Aviichen was finishing her phone call. Her voice got even louder as she snarled, “I’m starting to think you don’t want to be here. All you present are problems. Bring me some solutions!”

Aster held their breath and waited, heart pounding. But no one seemed to be interested in coming back to them. There were conversations and the sounds of feet scuffling on the ground, but they didn’t come in.

Eventually even the adrenaline ran out. Aster fell asleep in their little nest of blankets. They woke up to the sound of the door unlatching.

“Good morning,” sang Box Guy. He flipped a switch as he entered the back of the van. Something started humming. “It’s going to be a busy day today, so you’ll have to excuse our poor hospitality. I thought we’d get you started off with a fruit salad, cheesy scrambled eggs, and a nice rye bread with butter and jelly. Would you like coffee, tea, or juice?”

“...Coffee and juice?” Aster asked. They eyed the space between the man and the door. They probably couldn’t make it. But what if they could?

“Coming right up.” Box Guy had a hairnet on. “Just a moment.” He pulled out his phone and texted with one hand, not letting Aster out of his sight. “Would you like to use the facilities before or after breakfast?”

“Before, please.” Aster tossed aside their blankets and stood gingerly. They were so sore from sleeping on the hard floor.

Box Guy swept an arm theatrically. “Your Port a Potty awaits. I’ve got face wipes and dry shampoo as well.”

‘I want a real shower.’

Aster felt their lips thin. “Thank you,” they said, as genuinely as they could muster. They took advantage of the generous facilities. The offered breakfast was waiting by the time Box Guy took them back to the van, which had gotten a lot colder since Aster left it. Box Guy lingered while Aster ate and made casual conversation.

When Aster finished, Boy Guy fished something out of his back pocket. Something fabric. Aster eyed it with trepidation. “Alright, we are going to work today,” he said cheerfully. “I’m afraid that for professional reasons we really can’t have non-employees involved in food preparation, which includes overseeing it. So I will be covering your eyes today.” He unfolded and brandished what Aster now realized was a cotton pillowcase.

“Okay,” Aster said slowly. These people were really weird. They managed a smile. “I understand completely. Clients pay a premium for professional service.”

“You get it,” Box Guy said happily. “Here we go.” He pulled the pillowcase over Aster’s head. That was fine, it was not good but it wasn’t a surprise.

There was a metallic click. A hand grabbed Aster’s wrist.

“Wait, what-”

A handcuff snapped shut. “Can’t have you totally loose,” Box Guy said. “Here we go.” Aster didn’t fight the hand that pushed them back against the side of the van. “Careful, your balance isn’t going to be very good when you can’t see.”

‘It won’t be very good with one hand secured against the wall, either,’ Aster thought, a little hysterical.

“All set,” Box called out. “What time is it?”

“Shit, we have to go.” Aster craned to see the last bits of sunlight through tightly woven fabric before the caterers slammed the van door shut.

The drive that followed was massively unpleasant. The turns jerked Aster around, unable to brace well because their right hand was secured behind their back. At least their left was free.

‘Did they realize I could take this off?’ Aster wondered. Most of their body was cold, but it was hot and damp from their breath inside the pillowcase.

At least it wasn’t a long drive.

The van stopped. The doors opened. “Hold on, don’t mind us,” said Flower Guy.

Aster didn’t say a thing. They just breathed. And they listened to the sounds of the van being loaded up. Eventually the noises stop, the doors shut, and they go for another drive. The repetition starts lulling Aster to sleep. Numb, they don’t really react when the van stops again.

At least, not until there’s a new voice outside. Aster snaps their head up before they register the words.

“Hey!” There’s a pause. “Do you have a hostage in there?”

Aster felt their eyes go wide. ‘Someone came for me? Who is that? I don’t know that voice.’ They struggled to sit up straighter. It didn’t really work.

It sounds like there’s a fight outside. Aster cranes to hear. There’s a thump against the outside of the van and some scuffling noises. If they’re talking, it’s too quiet for Aster to hear. Someone makes a sound of pain.

It feels like hours. It was probably seconds.

Someone tries to open the van. The lock jiggles.

“Give me the keys, nerds.” The same voice as before calls out. “If I have to break in, Sunny’s gonna be pissed at you.”

‘It’s gotta be a vigilante,’ Aster realizes. The relief is incredible. ‘Who is this? Are they new? Do I know of them at all?’

A few seconds later there is a familiar voice.

“Let’s go.”

Aster blinks back tears. That’s Harmes. Holy shit, the event planners did it. The event planning firm found them.

Something jingles as someone picks up the keys and unlocks the van. Aster stares in the direction of those doors. The cotton pillowcase was sticking to the stress sweat on their face. It was something even more stifling than before.

“Hello, Aster.” Harmes says, sounding casually unsure.

‘I was right. It’s Harmes. Harmes is here and I’m getting out of this van. Sunny can eat dirt.’

“Hey!” Aster tries to say, but the sweaty pillowcase clings to their mouths. They try to spit it out, but it just keeps kinda sticking to their tongue and lips.

Then the pillowcase is mercifully removed. Aster looks up at Harmes, glorious Harmes. Mildly terrifying Harmes.

“Hey.” They say breathlessly, and smile. “Wasn’t sure I was ever gonna see you again, Harmes.”

Then the door swings open again, as an Asian woman with a spiked bat athletically jumps up into the van. She doesn’t pause for a second and kneels down in front of Aster to look at the cuffs around their wrist. There’s a metallic sliding sound and then your hand is free. “That was… not well planned.” Aster turns to look at it, lifting their hand in disbelief. The whole handcuff is still attached. Was the other end just hooked onto something?

‘That’s so embarrassing. I wasn’t actually restrained. Maybe I could have gotten away.’

“Can you get this off?” Aster asks pitifully. “Or do we just need to go and figure it out later?”

The vigilante nods, cocksure. “I can. It’s not a very good lock,” she snarks, pulling out some little metal tools and jamming them around inside the keyhole. After a few seconds, the lock opens. Aster leans into Harmes’ side, accepting the help out of the van into sunshine. It’s a little painful after so long in the darkness.

There’s no sign of Box Guy and Flower Guy. There are some grimy looking cummerbunds on the cement, though, and an empty silver tray.

There’s a jingle. Aster looks over in time to see Harmes casually throw the keys onto the driver’s seat.

Aster climbs in and collapses gladly next to a serious looking woman in a suit, while Harmes and their vigilante friend pile in the car. But try as they might, Aster just can’t stop shaking. Their entire torso is vibrating with adrenaline and exhaustion. The woman in the suit is right up against Aster’s body, and the human warmth is nice.

“Glad to see you made it, Aster!” a person Aster vaguely recognizes as a social media thembo turns around and waves. “Nice to meet you.”

Aster is too tired to really think about any of that. Harmes is a weird person. They have weird friends. The serious woman pulls a small bag out of her briefcase and puts it on Aster’s lap without looking away from her papers, while the person Aster can only remember as “that hottie with the villain hotpants line” drives out of the parking lot and back in the direction of town. Aster peels one eye open politely when the woman next to them begins to speak.

“Apple juice, a sandwich, and a banana. You need to hydrate and eat.” Then she turns back to her papers.

That gets Aster up like a shot, and they eat it with a frenzy. Honestly, it isn’t as nice as the catering leftovers, but a sandwich and juice does wonders for Aster’s nerves.

Eventually the driver switches on music. It’s dark, and the streetlamps pass by slowly. They get brighter and newer as they approach the city center, halos of warm light bathing the inside of the car.

Time passes slowly now that the adrenaline is fading. Harmes’ friends keep glancing at you. Harmes is busy on their phone.

Harmes turns towards you and raises their phone. “Aster, proof of life.” Aster extends a weak smile and a peace sign for the picture.

‘I’m out. I’m safe. It’s done.’

Finally, Aster’s heart rate starts to go down. Everything is going to be okay.

The car ride is quiet. The vigilante polishes her bat with a grin that is concerning, but Aster can’t really bring themself to focus on that. The methodical folding of papers over the rumble of the engine. No one speaks. Aster’s eyes begin to feel tired, and they decide not to fight it. They lean back into the seat of the car, and relax into the tranquility of newfound safety.

They fall asleep almost immediately.

NOTE:

This was originally posted on my Patreon, where I am continually writing other character stories for Deplorably Devoted. Check it out here!

[kotofvi]

So, I’m not dead or anything! I’m doing a lot better as of late, but this weekend is gonna be a rough one. I do plan on coming back once I get settled into myself a little more though! I know some folks are probably wondering “Yooo what the actual fuck happened? Did you just like, die and forget about us?” Nah, a lot of shit happened. Long story short: I lost everything I owned aside from my work clothes and the few things I had kept at my sister’s house. So I went into full shut down mode and basically just started working more and more until I had no time for myself or anything else. I did not wish to burden anyone and felt inconsolable due to all of the losses I suffered quite literally over the span of two weeks. But! Like I said, doing better after a year and it took months out of that to semi-get my shit together.

Now if you wanna know everything, here’s the long story: 

Okay, so my POS step father that I have been financially taking care of for years decided every dime I handed to him for RENT would not make it into the hands of the landlord. I had been living with my sister for a year in another city an hour away from work because his alcoholism had gotten to be horrid and I couldn’t handle it anymore, but I was still paying all of the bills in both houses. Hence why I became less frequent around here. To shorten it up a bit, I lost everything I owned because of these actions due to not being able to enter the house due to him destroying it in that year to a level where it was actually deemed unsafe to enter the premises. He was cheating on my mother as well, stole 1800$ from me when I gave him my phone and my card to get essentials one day and used that to stage an elaborate engagement party to the side bitch and post it on facebook where she could see it.  I lost the truck I had been working on for a decade to customize, I lost all of my electronics because I hadn’t been able to get them out and left in a hurry and to spite me, when I did go back for my laptop one day; he’d poured beer on it and threw it in a litter box so it wasn’t useable anymore. In the same week that all of this came to light and transpired, I also lost my dog Ace and was in a frenzy trying to find who had picked him up, found him and got him home safe, and also had to take my two other dogs to my friend’s house in the mountains. Not even a month later, one of my dogs (Thor) died from being bitten by a snake under the shed. A few months after that, my older dog (Paco, who was 17) died from old age. I was not able to be there for either one of them due to the circumstances I was in. My brother moved in with my sister and I moved in with a friend, I could not have them at her house so yeah.  Nothing would have helped me, as much as anyone could’ve tried, nothing would have made any of this better. I’d lost everything, my home, my dogs, my cats were given to a shelter and I couldn’t even look at my own family anymore. I couldn’t go to see my mother a few weeks after everything happened because she let him live there. He is still there, so I haven’t seen her since I went last time and broke a few fingers punching him as hard as I could. Guys, he didn’t even apologize. Not once. I gave him the chance before my dogs died to say something, anything, and instead; he said “well what do you want me to say?” Like bitch, maybe an apology??? Anyways, I was in such a bad way that as much as anyone would’ve wanted to help, it wouldn’t have made a difference. As it came to be when a couple of my friends thought they’d help by getting me to talk about it and otherwise giving me advice. I tried to say that I would put said advice to use when I could but alas, it only upset them further that I couldn’t do it then.  I get it, wanting to help is natural, but nothing would’ve made anything better. At that point, I was just genuinely lucky to still have some kind of will to live and get out of bed to go to work. No, that wasn’t me cutting anyone off or just saying fuck it either. I needed time. It took a year, I know, but I needed fucking time to consolidate my many immeasurable moments of grief, anger and pain. The people I did cut off were my family. Honestly, this whole ordeal made me lose some good friends too but if they couldn’t understand even after I explained to them that I needed time to get through it by myself, after knowing me for years and years, then perhaps it isn’t a bad thing. I wish them well, but if you’ve spent literal years with me then you know I best figure out things myself and that I need time to myself to work through things. Even if that’s weeks, months, or a year. Something extremely traumatic happened in multiple stages and at various levels of heinous, expecting me to just be there and exist is all anyone should’ve asked of me rather than expecting me to rely on people in an unfamiliar way. 

But anyways, to put some good into this: I live with my friend and former coworker who’s an amazing individual. She can’t deal with crying but she leaves cupcakes at the door whenever she hears it and asks if I wanna go to wally world to walk around afterwards. She understood that giving me time and space was necessary though and just let me do my own thing. She’s my best friend and an awesome person. Another person has helped me a lot in getting through this shit, found me having a whole ass break down in the paint booth at work and proceeded to just pat my shoulder and has since; decided that he is now my golden retriever level support with no braincells, only weird hobby support and entertaining my dumbass whims to go randomly vault myself off a bridge into a lake. (Surprise, he’s my boyfriend now after hanging around my espresso depresso self for a year. Still don’t know how that happened, he legit just decided we were dating and I agreed? Fucking mint.)  I’ve reached some level of happiness, still have my break downs and shit but I’m getting there. Tomorrow is father’s day though so I’m having a hell of a time trying to get through THAT. The level of rage I have is unreal right now, but y’know, shit happens I guess? I’m trying to keep with the typical policy I have of “Chuck it in the mcfuckit bucket and call it a day” but yee, I’ve decided on violence apparently due to this day. (Btw, if you have a shitty not-dad I’m y’er dad now, I love you and y’er doing great.) But to wrap this up, I’m getting there. It’s still gonna take a little time but I’m doing a lot better now. And yes, this is the short version, a lot more happened and shit like that but y’know, basics. 

[writerdownbookworder]

Dear Diary,

I'm going to have to lock this diary away and destroy it. I love kids.

The Addams kids? They're menaces!

I'm fairly certain the girl wants to kill me. At least the boy seems fairly... sweet? No, not the right word. If I did die, he would definitely hide the evidence. Or eat it. The kid eats like a pig.

One thing is for sure. If I go missing, the girl got me and the boy finished me off.

Dear Diary,

Today was worse. I left the Addams kids playing upstairs while I went to make them lunch. When I came to fetch them, the girl had strapped her brother to some sort of contraption. I'm fairly certain it was an electric chair, though I don't know how she got one. Or why...

He was fine, just hungry. Which is almost more concerning. He ate so much at lunchtime, I'm not sure how he had room for dinner. I thought he might explode.

Oh well. Better luck tomorrow.

Dear Diary,

It's been a week. That girl - Wednesday - has tormented me within an inch of my life! There is blood in strange, unexpected places. Snakes and critters hidden in my bed. She locked me in my room for a whole day! There's even a disembodied hand in this house! It moves.

I think she might be clinically insane.

Pugsley on the other hand...I think he just does whatever she tells him to. Yesterday, she told him to jump out the second story window. I barely caught him. Then, I could barely pull him back inside. The kid weighs a ton.

The kicker? Wednesday said she wanted to see if he would bounce.

Dear Diary,

The Addams family will be reunited in two days. I'm overjoyed. I should've listened when everyone warned me. I won't lie, the house is interesting, and the stories the kids tell are...intriguing, at least, if not worrying. But you won't catch me anywhere near this place again. I wouldn't touch it with a very long pole, not even with several weapons hidden on me.

At least Wednesday has stopped trying to give me a heart attack. Instead, she takes it out on Pugsley.

But at least he seems used to it. Sometimes, I think he enjoys it.

Dear Diary,

Change of plans. Pugsley didn't want me to leave. He sat on my feet and cried when I tried to walk out the door. Not even Wednesday could make him move. Although, I'm not sure how hard she tried. I think I maybe saw a glimmer in her eyes.

It might have been a tear, but I guess it's more likely a plot.

Dear God, I hope it's not against me for leaving.

Maybe I'll come back to visit.

Dear Diary,

It's been awhile. The Addams family is...strange.

Wednesday and Pugsley meet me at the park every weekend for a picnic.

Morticia has me over for tea every other week.

Gomez decided I needed to learn how to fence. I don't think I had a choice. So now I have a fencing lesson twice a week. It's an odd sport.

That hand...Thing. Apparently, he likes playing checkers. I still don't know how I got roped into that.

I avoid the grandma though. She gives me the creeps. Not to mention the bald uncle. I'm fairly sure he's been arrested multiple times.

Anyway, now the Addams family is like my second family. My home away from home.

Who would've thought?

You, new in town and strapped for cash, see an ad in the paper; apparently, a "Gomez and Morticia Addams" are in need of a babysitter to watch their two children during a business trip. Despite the VERY high pay, no one has pursued it. Ignoring warnings from the locals, you sign up.

[perksofbeingamaineiac]

February 12, 2024

It was a good weekend.

Friday night we went to the gym and relaxed. We had a good workout and I am still sore.

Saturday we went to an adult indoor playground for his sister's birthday, then I came home did some laundry, and organized before the girls got here and we went to out Galentine's dinner. We came back to my house and played a murder mystery game that took us 3 hours.

Overall Galentine's was good. I did have a couple of realizations.

I really don't know what Alessia expects from men in relationships to like them. She was telling is that one of her friends is getting married, but she doesn't like the guy and she was explaining a few reasons, which I can maybe agree were reasons to be questionable about someone, but not dislike them to that amount. Maybe there's more than she told us. It just made me realize that she has a view on relationships and I don't know how realistic it is. People are going to argue and act ridiculous sometimes. That shouldn't be a defining moment. She isn't only like this with me but with all her friends and their partners. She made a comment about never finding someone last time we hung out, because of her expectations and I am seeing that be true, more and more. I hope she meets someone who will make her understand the ebb and flow of a relationship and how it can be great, but have its quirks.

The communication between the 3 of us is still selective. I asked Christina about her job situation and she said she would tell us in person, then Alessia finished her sentences and jumped to parts of the story like I knew already. Also, Christina went to the same psychic I went to and didn't tell me, but Alessia knew everything already. I didn't even get the full thing of what happened because the conversation moved on too quick. The fomo/jealousy is annoying, but it hurts less. I expect it.

Politics came up a few times and I really had to sit back and be quiet. I agree with them to certain extents, but not fully all the time. People should always be treated with respect.

I think I am still processing it all.

Yesterday was also a good day. Woke up to Braeden, I went to my facial while he went to hockey and then he met me to sell a snake and then go to my Nonnas for lunch. We came back to mine after and we planned our next week and a bit. I really want to block weekends off the calendar so we can go to the cottage more. We only have one Italy wedding and that's it. So hopefully the summer will be less busy than last. I kind of want to make a summer bucket list with him. Take a picture of each thing and make an album. I will talk to him about it.

I should set up a Sping goals check-in with Alessia soon too. I want to figure out a card or note for Braeden for Friday. I need to think of a plan to sell more snakes. I may be due to take some more pictures too.

One more thing about Galentines, Alessia asked how Braeden was. I said good and talked about his sister's birthday a little and there were no more questions asked. I tried not to talk about him much. I feel like I can say all the good things in the world, but if ever I say anything they don't agree with, all those good things won't matter. I want to refrain from having him come up all the time so they don't judge that either. It's a little sad that I have to be so calculated.

I guess two more things. Braeden slept at my house the night of Galentines, so I let them know he was coming over and that he was just going to say hi and go to bed. They said "he could play with us" and I don't know if they meant it. Braeden brought up the point, that they might judge him for not wanting to play. He was tired though, he was asleep when I went to bed. Such a double-ended sword.

Work last week was anxiety-ridden. I had a task due on Friday that I knew was impossible to complete. I did my best and told them I would continue to update, but it was a lot of work and their 2-week deadline was unrealistic due to one whole week of it I was in a studio and being pulled to prioritize other things. I mean it's hovering over me now, but I feel like as long as I can update and continue to work on it, it will be okay.

My direct boss is on vacation this week so we will see how things go.